


College, Love, and Other Harsh Realities

by shrugheadjonesthethird



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, Archie is a douche, Barchie is a stepping stone for Bughead, Betty Cooper & Jughead Jones Friendship, Betty Cooper - Freeform, Betty is from Riverdale, But not at first, College Student Betty, Dudebro Archie, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Frat boy Archie, Jug is too smart for his own good, Mechanic Betty Cooper, Romance, Romance and Fluff, Slow Burn, The boys are from Toledo, Writer Jughead Jones, archie andrews - Freeform, bughead is endgame, eventual bughead, jughead jones - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-16
Updated: 2018-09-20
Packaged: 2019-06-28 09:43:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 38,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15704700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shrugheadjonesthethird/pseuds/shrugheadjonesthethird
Summary: Betty Cooper was finally free of her Riverdale past and off to college. In her first college experience, she found her first love. Along the way, she learns about herself, what she really wants from life and what honest to God true love is supposed to feel like.





	1. Freshman Year

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, hey, hello! Welcome to this plot bunny! What started as a prompt from the Bughead Family Discord turned into something I'm incredibly proud of. *If you aren't a member, but you're interested, give me a shout, and I'll point you in the right direction*
> 
>  
> 
> _**this starts off with Barchie, but I promise, Bughead is endgame**_
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks to Kellie (@kmlefev) and Heather (@whaticamherefor) for being eternally invested in this process *and the plot bunny itself*
> 
> A _huge_ shoutout to my beautiful Powerpuffs for listening to me and being a wonderful sounding board, Evie (@cacti-evie) and Summer (@srainebuggie), I love you both to the ends of the earth.
> 
> Thanks to our wonderful Tory (@tory-b) for the title and last but not least, thank you to the beautiful Peyton (@peaceblessingspeyton) for giving this a beautiful beta job and fixing all my stupid mistakes.
> 
> //
> 
> *lyrics to Archie's song are Smile by Uncle Kracker*

She was excited to finally be out on her own. No dragon mother, no serial killer father, or cult-obsessed sister. No looks of pity whenever she walked into a store, no whispers behind her back of the wrongdoings her father had committed. Just Elizabeth Cooper. She had been looking forward to finally escaping her small town life for grander things. Ithaca College was Betty’s chance to thrive, be her own person, discover who she really was, what she really wanted. Or that’s what she thought.

Orientation weekend was her first taste of college life, and even that was putting it lightly: another tour of the campus, maps of public transportation, best student friendly study areas. By the end of the first night, Betty found herself in the basement lounge of the dormitory she was assigned to for the weekend with a handful of other bored students. She remained still on the couch, watching those around her. They were from all over the country (based on their name tags), all drastically different than what she was used to in her small town.

As she scanned the room, her eyes landed on one person in particular and her jaw dropped. A very well built redheaded boy sat across from her on another couch, lazily tuning the guitar perched on his knee. She was captivated by the twitch of his mouth as he plucked the strings, reverberating small notes into the lounge. He looked up from his guitar at Betty and she averted her eyes, not wanting to be caught staring. Out of the corner of her eyes, she sees a smirk play on the corner of his lips. She looked back to the book in her hands, rereading the same sentence dozens of times, distracted by the person across from her.

She felt the cushion next to her sink, looking up slowly to find the cause. Now seated next to her was the boy with the guitar. He smiled at her.

“Hey,” he started simply, pointing to his name tag. “I’m Archie Andrews.”

“Betty Cooper,” she said extending her hand for him to shake. She placed her hands back into her lap, turning her body to face him. Her green eyes met his brown and Betty’s stomach fluttered with anticipation.

His smile was contagious. Betty ducked her head down slightly, nervous. He looked nothing like the boys back in Riverdale. Small town life bred small town boys. The boys she was used to were lanky, not much to look at. But Archie, he was muscular and handsome and so many other words she couldn’t find in that moment.

“I’m a music major, but I’m here on a football scholarship. What about you?” He asked politely. His focus was solely on her, as if there was no one else in the room with them.

“I’m a double major in Creative Writing and Business Management.” She blushed at her admission when she saw his jaw drop.

“Wow. That’s a lot.” Archie stammered. “Is there even enough time for all that?” He chuckled rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

Betty shrugged, “I guess I’ll find out.”

They continued talking through the night, not even realizing when the rest of the students began to dissipate into their rooms. They had spoken about their hometowns, what lead them to Ithaca, what their academic and career goals were--even a few silly stories from their childhoods. The conversation flowed naturally, it didn’t seem forced like it had earlier when she was required to introduce herself to her peers. He listened intently, looked her directly in the eye, she may have even seen his eyes flick down to her lips once or twice, but if she noticed, she didn’t pay any mind to it.

Before they knew it, the lounge was filled with students once again.

“Is it already 8:00a.m.?!” Betty asked checking her watch. “I guess I didn’t realize the time. I’m sorry for keeping you up all night. I’m sure you’re tired.”

Archie covered his mouth in a yawn. “It’s okay. I wouldn’t have stayed if I didn’t want to.”

He placed his hand on top of hers hesitantly. Betty lifted her eyes to his, sparkling brighter than they ever had before. She saw something written on his face, but she wasn’t entirely sure what it could have been. They’d only spent the last ten hours together, she was sure she felt the connection, too.

“So, I guess we should get going. We have the itinerary set for the day. Maybe I’ll see you for lunch?” Betty asked trying not to sound too hopeful.

“I would really like that.” Archie smiled at her again, for what seemed to be the hundredth time that night--well, morning. She stood to walk toward her dorm to get ready for the day.

“Wait. Betty?” Archie called to her, she turned back around to face him. “So, I had a fun time talking with you. I was wondering if maybe you’d wanna exchange numbers or something? Just in case I don’t see you at lunch, I can find you?” His cheeks were nearly as red as his hair with his question.

Betty pulled out her phone and handed it to him. He sent himself a text message from her phone, creating the contact _Archie_ followed by a guitar and a football emoji _._ She giggled when she saw what he’d saved into her phone.

“Well, fair is fair,” she said reaching to his phone. She knitted her eyebrows together, thinking of something clever to save herself as in his phone. _Betty_ followed by a pen and a book emoji. She knew there was more to herself than just that, but that way he’d remember her.

He smiled before turning away bidding her farewell with a promise to see her later.

Orientation weekend was over before they knew it. Archie and Betty hadn’t had a chance to meet for lunch, but they had texted each other for the remainder of the day. It turned out, being a double major was more work than she anticipated, but it wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle. Maybe she’d rethink getting an on campus job until she saw how it all worked out.

**Betty: Hey. I’m about to head back home until August. Any chance you can meet me outside of West in a few minutes?**

**Archie: Be there in 5. ;)**

Betty placed her phone back in her pocket and loaded her duffle bag into the trunk of the car. She waited patiently for Archie to meet her, and sure enough, four minutes later, there he was. He stopped in front of her, hands on his hips, nearly out of breath.

“You caught me just in time. Practice starts in a half hour.”

“Already? I thought you were going back to Toledo before classes started.”

“Nope, they moved it up a week. We’re staying straight through.” He shrugged. “It’s only an extra two weeks. Nothing really going on in Toledo anyway.”

“Oh, okay. Well, uh. Be careful with practice and stay hydrated.” _Stay hydrated, really Betty?_ She thought to herself. She heard him chuckle, breaking her from her internal lecture.

“Don’t worry, I will. You’ll be back before you know it. Be careful going home. Let me know when you get there?” He placed his hands on her hips, slowly moving his thumbs against the curve of her waist. She looked up and smiled at him.

“Yeah, of course.” Before she could second guess herself, she leaned in and placed a light kiss on his cheek. “I’ll see you when I get back in a few weeks.” Her voice was breathy, almost inaudible.

“Can’t wait,” he said, pulling her into a hug, his arms wrapped around her waist, hoisting her in the air. Her arms held tight around his shoulders as he let her down carefully. “And--if things are still like you said, with your mom, you can call me, okay?”

Betty nodded her head quietly. She had revealed more information than she intended to Archie in their overnight chat, but not everything. She told him of how overbearing her mother had a tendency to be, how her parents were in the middle of a sticky divorce (but not about her father being a serial killer), how her sister ran away from home before everything happened with her twins to a cult. He accepted her family for what it was, and didn’t even flinch, at least not yet. Maybe college really would be everything she needed it to be, but maybe being the daughter of a serial killer was a dealbreaker--she wasn’t ready to find out just yet.

The friends she had in Riverdale began treating her differently after the news of her father’s crimes broke. They began to distance themselves from her, she was kicked out of clubs and extracurriculars--she was generally avoided at all costs, afraid that his lunacy had spread to her.

Archie opened the car door for her and kissed her cheek before she got settled in. She waved goodbye as she started the car and drove away, checking the rearview mirror until she could no longer see him.

She made the trip home in just over three hours. When she pulled into the driveway of her childhood home, her mother’s car was nowhere to be found. Betty shrugged her shoulders and made her way inside, snatching the duffle bag from the trunk.

She walked up the familiar steps to the same porch she played on with her sister as a kid. It felt different this time--like things were changing.

She found a note from her mother on the table in the front hall.

_Working late. Dinner is in the fridge. Clean up after yourself, Elizabeth. - Mom_

Betty rolled her eyes at the note and made her way up stairs to unpack from the weekend. She wasn’t necessarily looking forward to two weeks alone with Alice Cooper, but it was the last of it before gaining her freedom, it was a small price to pay.

\--

The two weeks she was home flew by, her mother rarely home from being at work constantly. She had spoken to Archie nearly everyday before and after football practice.

 **Archie: I can’t wait for you to come back. It’s pretty boring here with no one to talk to but** **the team.**

**Betty: I’ll be back in a few days. Try not to miss me too much.**

**Archie: Too late :)**

Betty’s heart nearly melted in her chest. Well, if that wasn’t the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to her.

**Archie: Which dorm are you in this semester? I don’t remember.**

**Betty: West 412**

**Archie: West 428!**

**Betty: Same floor, too? Well, how about that! I guess I’ll be seeing you more often than we thought :)**

**Archie: Can’t wait.**

**Archie: And before you ask, yes, really.**

Did he know her that well already? She hadn’t made it a point to hide any part of herself from Archie, but she wasn’t entirely truthful, not that she had lied about her life, she just _omitted_ particular details. There were things he didn’t need to know, at least not yet. He seemed to want to talk to her every day, despite her flaws, despite her family, despite everything. She was even more excited to leave Riverdale behind and start her new life in Ithaca.

Alice helped Betty pack the last of the boxes into the car. She slammed the hatch close and sighed.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you, sweetheart? I can help--”  


“No, mom. It’s really okay. I can handle it. I think I need to do this on my own. I’ll text you when I get there and when I’m unpacked. Hell, I’ll even send you a photo of it when it’s done.”

Alice pulled Betty into a bone-crushing hug, nearly knocking the wind out of her lungs. “Just be careful. College is so much different than high school.” If Betty didn’t know any better, she would think that her mother was weeping. But she did know better.

“It’ll be fine, mom. I’ll be back before you know it.” Betty twirled her keys on her fingers and waited for Alice to step back from the car. She got in, gave a last wave, and pulled out of the driveway, not even sparing a glance back at her mother.

The drive to the college was uneventful at best, not even traffic. She pulled up to the dorm where she’d live the next year of her life, studying, making friends, discovering herself. She smiled at the thought of freedom. She parked the car and began unloading neatly labeled and organized boxes.

“Hey! Need some help?” A familiar voice called out. Betty whipped her head around, her ponytail nearly stinging her eye. There was Archie, standing on the front steps of the building, shirtless. Betty’s eyes went wide. He was more muscular than she originally thought. She was sure football over the last few weeks helped his case, too.

She shook her head, “Uh, yeah. That’d be great. Thanks.” Archie ran back inside, coming back seconds later with a hand truck. Betty furrowed her brow.

“Friendly recommendation from my buddy, Jughead, back home. He started college last year, graduated high school a year early--said it would have saved him a lot of hassle.”

“Your friend sounds pretty smart, despite his name being a little suspect,” Betty chuckled. Archie shrugged and started loading boxes onto the hand truck, before bringing them up to her room. After only three trips, everything was to the fourth floor and inside the door of Betty’s new home.

“Your friend was really onto something! That saved so much time!” Betty was excited. She had anticipated getting all of her stuff upstairs to take forever, but with the help of Archie and his hand truck, it was done in a quarter of the time. Without thinking, she began to organize and unpack.

“No roommate?” Archie asked.

Betty looked around spying one bed, one desk and one dresser. She shrugged. “I guess not.” Archie raised his eyebrows, in what appeared to be excitement about the thought of privacy.

“Do you want some help unpacking? I’ve been done for weeks and my roommate, Moose, is setting himself up so I figured I wouldn’t get in his way.”

“Uhh, yeah. That’d be great!” Betty chirped. Before long, her entire room was cleaned, unpacked and organized to her liking. _Her_ liking, not Alice’s.

“Everything is so bright,” Archie laughed. “I’m not sure I was expecting anything different.”

“Thanks, I think? I’m not sure if that was supposed to be a compliment or not, but I’ll take it as one.” Betty crossed her arms over her chest.

Archie walked toward her, placing his hand on her elbow.

“Hey. I didn’t give you a proper hello yet,” he said as he leaned in to kiss her cheek. Betty uncrossed her arms and threw them around his neck into a tight hug. She leaned back, arms still around his neck and blushed.

“So, hear me out, okay? I know you’ve got a killer schedule coming up, and I know you can handle it and everything, but I was wondering if maybe you wanted to have dinner with me tonight?” Archie said as he kept his hands firmly on her waist.

“Like a date?” The pink in her cheeks tinged brighter.

“Yeah, like a date. Maybe the first of many?” His voice nearly cracked with nerves as he asked the beautiful blonde on an official date.

She nodded timidly. It wasn’t that she’d never been on a date before, but she’d never been on a date with someone like him--a jock, a musician. The boys that were after her in high school ran the A/V and chess clubs--that was where she thought her dating pool was doomed to.

“Great. I’ll swing by a little later. Does seven sound okay?”

“Sure,Yeah. Seven is great.” Her voice was quiet, full of anticipation and hope.

Sure enough, at seven o’clock, there was a knock at Betty’s door.

“It’s open,” she called from her closet. She was just finishing slipping on a pair of sneakers when Archie’s red hair popped through her door. She had been nervous getting ready for the date, not entirely sure what to expect. Seeing him in the doorway made her heart hammer against her chest and she needed to calm down before she embarrassed herself.

Their date turned into an all night affair. They started with dinner at the dining hall attached to their building. The conversation flowed naturally, as it had at orientation. For that, Betty was thankful. She was nervous to be out with Archie. She had seen people looking at them as they walked, well, looking at him. She felt inadequate next to him. From an outsider's perspective, she was far too plain for him.

They wandered campus, continuing their conversation from dinner. Betty was very aware of her hand placement, she wanted to hold his, but she was nervous--part of her still believing that the night had been a dream. She never had the best luck when it came to dating; it had always been awkward, never knew if she was saying or doing the right things.

After the third time she ‘accidentally’ brushed her hand against his, he laced their fingers together and smiled, bringing her hand up to his mouth for a quick kiss.

They made their way back to their building around eleven. Betty fumbled in her bag for her room key, anticipating the night ending. The jocks in Riverdale were hotheaded, rude, and generally awful people. Her preconceived notions clouded her judgement, but she was pleasantly surprised that she had had a better time than she expected with someone like Archie. She learned more about him tonight than she did on their first night at orientation, and she was drawn to him--stories of his family, his childhood, his friends.

She didn’t feel confident enough about her own life to tell him everything still. She didn’t tell him about _just_ how overbearing Alice was, or who her father turned out to be. She spoke of Polly before the cult. She thought he could tell she was holding back, but she wasn’t doing it on purpose, she simply didn’t feel that it was something to talk about on the first date--it would be revealed over time, maybe when he was already so emotionally invested in her that it wouldn’t matter, but for now, it was enough.

Betty leaned her back against her bedroom door, he hand delicately on the knob when they arrived. Archie stood in front of her, eyes bright, a smile splitting his face.

“I had a really great time,” she said quietly.

“Yeah. Me too,” Archie added quickly. His hands were twitching nervously, like he wasn’t sure what he should do with them, but he knew what he wanted to do with them.

“Did you wanna come in and watch a movie or something?” Betty asked, not wanting the date to end just yet. She’d been drawn from Archie from the start and didn’t want the interaction to end, not yet. She was trying to work up the nerve to kiss him, but she was afraid it would never come.

“Rain check? I’ve got practice early. I should probably go to sleep. Maybe tomorrow night?” He raised his eyebrows, eyes bright with hope that she would agree to another date.

“Yeah,” she breathed, “tomorrow sounds great.” She bit her bottom lip when she saw his eyes flicker from hers to her lips, then back up.

He slowly leaned forward and took a deep breath. She tilted her head up to him, an unspoken open invitation. Her cheeks blushed when she realized it was going to happen. He placed a gentle kiss on her lips, just enough pressure to know he was there, but not enough to lead to anything scandalous (which, she was _not_ ready for, was she?).

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he smiled against her mouth, placing another sweet lingering kiss to her mouth.

\--

The semester was underway by the time Archie officially asked Betty to be his girlfriend. They had spent as much time as their schedules allowed together. Betty, being a double major and involved with extracurricular activities, did cut into time she could spend with him, but she needed the time for herself, too. She wouldn’t allow herself to get so lost in him that she lost herself simultaneously.

Every Thursday was their movie night, they’d alternate rooms, even at Betty’s protest. She didn’t have a roommate to worry about, it made sense that they used hers, but Archie insisted. She became friendly with his roommate, Moose Mason, over the course of the following weeks.

Their relationship was going well, despite the extra practices and cancelled plans from Archie because of the football team actually doing well. By October, their schedules seemed to remain fairly regular, Betty using in between classes and Tuesday evenings for coursework and planning while still having nearly every night to cuddle in next to her boyfriend.

Betty made her way down the hall, backpack in tow, to meet Archie to help him study for his upcoming English composition exam. They always kept their door unlocked, seemingly unphased by the hundreds of college students surrounding them.

“Hey, Arch. I know I’m a little early, but that’s nothing new,” she giggled, walking into the room. She stopped in her tracks when she didn’t see his telltale red locks, or even Moose playing video games, as he always was. She looked around the room and found a person she’d never seen before, sitting at Archie’s desk.

She looked around again, ensuring she was in the correct room, the room she’d been in nearly every day since she’d moved into the dorm.

“Oh, sorry,” Betty muttered when she realized the stranger was looking at her in deep confusion.

“You must be Betty,” he said simply, his voice like velvet. She took a moment to survey the stranger at the desk.

His long legs were outstretched and crossed at the ankle, covered in black jeans. A flannel was draped over the seat of the chair, tied haphazardly around his waist and a gray t-shirt perched on his shoulders. His hair fell clumsily into his eyes under the knit, grey beanie atop his head. But his eyes. They were the bluest she’d ever seen as he stared at her, waiting for a response. _Well, if this isn’t the most beautiful man_ , she thought, but shook her head quickly to dispel the thought.

“That would be me,” she said slowly,cautiously extending her hand for him to shake. He chuckled to himself, seemingly amused by her confusion.

“I’m Jughead. It’s great to finally meet you. Archie won’t shut up about you,” he smiled, shaking her hand that was still outstretched to him, his eyes lingering over her face.

“Right! Of course, Jughead! I’ve heard so much about you. Sorry for being rude, what are you doing here, and where is Archie?”

“I’m here for siblings weekend and Archie forgot something in the locker room, he ran to get it. He said you might stop by while he was gone. I guess he knows you pretty well, then.” He laughed nervously.

“Yeah, I guess so.” Her eyes didn’t meet his again, remaining trained on the floor, fearing he’d see the dishonesty behind them. He didn’t know her all that well, she’d kept it that way. As much as she was falling for Archie, there were still parts of her she couldn’t reveal, not yet--everything was still so new.

Jughead’s gaze returned to the laptop he was working on. He began muttering to himself. She didn’t hear everything he said, but she caught words like _sonofabitch_ and _need a new editor_. Betty cleared her throat awkwardly.

“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but if you need help editing, I can always give you a hand.” She offered, despite the immense workload she already had. She’d never turn her back on someone in need of help.

“No, really, it’s fine. My usual editor just decided to get pneumonia right before our final proposals are due. Nothing for you to worry about.” He was frustrated, not at her, but in general. Archie had told him she was a business major, what would she know about editing for nonfiction writing proposals?

“It’s really hard to find a good editor. Everyone seems to ask me, yet, I can never find one worth anything.” She shrugged. He looked at her incredulously.

“What would a Business major need with an editor?” His eyebrow shot up confused, arms crossing over his chest.

“Actually, I’m a double major in Business and Creative writing, so--” she trailed off.

“Oh, our dear ginger failed to mention that part,” he chuckled. “If you do look at it, you can’t judge me. I wrote it after three days of no sleep and way more coffee than any college student should have access to.”

Betty laughed, bringing her hand to cover her mouth as she did. She saw the sparkle in Jughead’s blues, and her throat went dry. _What?_

She swallowed hard, trying to find her voice. “Do you work on docs? You can always shoot it over to me and I can take a look at it while you’re here this weekend. Up to you,” she said nonchalantly.

He gestured to his laptop with Google Docs staring back at him. A small smile played on her lips. She leaned over him easily, entering her email address and sharing the document with herself.

“Maybe after I help Archie study for Comp, I can take a look?”

“I don’t know, that could take all weekend. He’s really not great with English. Or math. Or really anything that isn’t football or music.” They shared a laugh and Betty placed her hand on Jughead’s shoulder.

“I should have known you’d be early,” they heard Archie chuckle.

“I’m always early. Why are you surprised?” Betty turned and looked at Archie smiling, her hand still perched on Jughead’s shoulder.

“How have you been holding out on me for this long? She’s a writing major, too? I could have been picking her brain for weeks!” Jughead laughed.

\--

The rest of the weekend played out as expected. Betty, Archie, and Jughead spent a lot of time together. Jughead revealed some mildly embarrassing stories from their childhood that had Betty in stitches. It had been so long since she’d laughed that deeply.

By the time Sunday came along, Betty hadn’t had the chance to read Jughead’s paper. He was just about to get into his car, as they were seeing him off, when she realized.

“Text Archie when you get back and we can take a look at it?” She asked, bent at his driver’s side window.

“Yeah, probably about five hours from now. Thanks again. It was great to meet you, Betty. I’ll see you guys soon,” he smiled, putting the car into gear and taking off on his journey home.

“I knew you two would get along great,” Archie said, slinging his arm over her shoulder playfully.

Archie just barely passed his English comp exam. Betty was disappointed, she knew how hard he’d worked on preparing for it but chalked it up to nerves about the upcoming game. She helped Jughead with his paper, utilizing the chat function in Docs, making it that much easier. By the end of the process, he had offered her his number to chat more.

Betty didn’t think anything of it as she put Jughead’s number into her phone. She was making an effort to like Archie’s best friend, though it wasn’t difficult for her. They had more in common than she thought possible, more than she and Archie did, and he was easy to talk to, _more than Archie was_.

Betty and Archie sat on her bed, the week before Thanksgiving, for their weekly movie night. Betty had chosen an older movie, _Cat on a Hot Tin Roof_ , she hoped Archie would like it. It was one her favorites.

“Not you, too! Jug’s been trying to get me to watch this for _years_. Did he put you up to this?” Archie was irritated, but his eyes smiled at her.

“No, I swear,” she felt her phone vibrate next to her. “Speak of the devil,” she continued, picking up her phone and smacking her forehead in frustration.

“What do you mean?” Betty turned her phone to show Archie the thread of messages between her and Jughead.

“I’ve explained this to him so many times! Is he always this forgetful?” She sighed, typing out a drawn out message about the use of [sic] in quotations and how to properly use it, for the third time in three weeks.

“You guys talk?” Archie asked confused.

“Yeah, mostly just editing stuff. I think he broke up with his editor for me,” she laughed at the thought. “I guess I’m just that good.”

“That you are, but I think you’re better than good,” he whispered at the shell of her ear. His hand brushed lightly over her waist as they snuggled together, turning to watch the movie.

About half way through the movie, Archie yawned and nuzzled into Betty’s neck. “It’s not even late. If you don’t want to watch this, I _guess_ we can turn it off.” Betty suppressed a laugh and Archie gave her his megawatt smile.

“Can I ask you something?” Archie asked sitting up straight. The expression on his face riddled with nerves. She nodded as he continued. “Will you come to my end of the year performance? It’s my first _real_ performance, and I want you to be there--if that’s okay?”

“Of course I’ll be there.” Betty kissed him soundly, forgetting all about the movie that was playing in the background.

\--

The end of the semester was upon them before they knew it. Archie and Betty hadn’t seen each other as much as they wanted to with finals and year end events.

It was the night of Archie’s performance andBetty could tell his nerves were getting the better of him..

**Archie: You’re still coming tonight, right? I’ll make sure they reserve a seat for you.**

**Archie: Apparently a lot of people come.**

Her heart faltered a little at the tone of anxiety that was clear in his messages. He had never questioned her before when she said she was going to be somewhere.

**Betty: I wouldn’t miss it, Arch. <3**

Later that night, Betty sat in her room contemplating her wardrobe.. She knew it was a special occasion for him, she wanted to be there for him, she wanted to look nice for him. She trailed her fingers over the hangers in her closet,finding a warm sweater dress to pair with leggings and boots before throwing her peacoat overtop of it all.

She made her way to the Whalen building, early, as always. There were a handful of students performing that night, Archie going fourth. She had enjoyed what she’d heard thus far. Archie had been practicing alone, which was different than their norm. She’d write her papers while he practices his theory or chords.Betty chalked it up to nerves, not thinking anything of the change of their routine.

Archie followed suit of the performers before him when he finally walked out on stage. “Hey. I’m Archie Andrews, I’m a freshman music composition student. Here is what I’ve been working on.” He settled his acoustic guitar over his knee and adjusted the strap nervously. He spotted Betty, exactly where he knew she’d be, as per the reserved seating sign. She nodded at him with a wide smile on her face, pride in her eyes. He took a deep breath and smiled at her awkwardly.

She listened intently to his song, one she had never heard him practice. She watched as his fingers strummed deftly across the strings, then his mouth opened to sing. She could hear the nerves in his voice but then she was beginning to understand why.

“ _Don't know how I lived without you_

_Cause every time that I get around ya_

_I see the best of me inside your eyes_

_You make me smile_

_You make me dance like a fool_

_Forget how to breathe_

_Shine like gold, buzz like a bee_

_Just the thought of you can drive me wild_ ”

Betty sat, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. If this is what she thought it was, she didn’t think she’d ever been happier in her life. She watched as Archie finished his song, he had been looking directly at her the entire time. She heard his muffled ‘thank you’ as he bowed and exited the stage.

Before long, the performances were over. Betty could barely focus of the performers after Archie left the stage, too focused on the lyrics that were still playing through her head. She sat, glued to her seat while the remainder of the audience got up to continue their night. Her heart was fluttering in her chest in anticipation of seeing him for the first time since she’d heard his song. Before long, she was alone in the theater. Archie walked slowly from behind the curtain of the stage and hopped down in front of her.

“Hey,” he said quietly.

“Hi,” she whispered. If she spoke any louder, the tears that were threatening to spill surely would win. “You were great,” she offered.

“I wrote it for you,” he said, taking her hand in his. “I’ve been trying to figure out exactly how to tell you for awhile now, this is the only way I think I knew how.”

She lost her battle with the tears.

“I love you,” he said as he pressed his forehead into hers, running his thumb over her knuckles. The smile that broke across her face was answer enough, it seemed for him, as he kissed her senseless right there in the theater.

\--

The semester was over, finals completed, assignments handed in. The student of Ithaca College were packing for their return home for a few weeks for winter break. Archie sat on Betty’s bed, arm thrown behind his head, staring at the ceiling.

“Is your sister coming home?” Archie asked innocently.

“Uhh, probably not. She’s out in California now, probably can’t afford to come back.” It wasn’t entirely a lie, she just hadn’t mentioned that the cult leader probably wouldn’t let her leave.

“What about your dad? Is it gonna be a normal Christmas for you?” Betty’s back straightened as she slowly turned around. Her father being away for holidays had become the Cooper’s new normal, but she was not about to drop the ‘my dad is a serial killer bomb’ on him right before they went their separate ways.

“Er. I don’t think so. We’ll probably do it separately, because y’know, the divorce.” She shrugged, hoping this would be a good enough answer for him. It seemed to do the trick.

“Did you maybe wanna get together for New Years? I could come to Riverdale, or you could come out to Toledo. I’m sure Jug won’t protest the extra company.”

“What does Jughead have to do with it?” She asked, turning to face him for the first time since the conversation started. She chose to ignore the slight rumble of something in the pit of her stomach at the mention of her boyfriend’s best friend.

“Oh, yeah. He lives with me and my dad during semester breaks, and over the summer. His home life is pretty nonexistent at this point. His mom bailed on him and his sister when he was a kid, his dad got himself into some legal troubles when we were younger, so my dad pretty much adopted him.” The words rolled out of his mouth with ease.

It was easy for Archie to spill his friend’s life. Why couldn’t it be easy for her to share all of herself with Archie? She loved him, sure, but it still seemed like there would never be a right time to tell him all the sordid details of her life. She could certainly keep him away from the small town itself.

“Yeah, sounds good. I’ll come out to Toledo,” she agreed. Betty closed her duffle bag, that she managed to fit a month’s worth of clothing and extra items into, with a deep breath. “I think that’s everything.”

“I will never understand how you do it,” he shook his head lovingly. “One of the many reasons I love you.”

  
She smiled at him, slowly walking over to him for a hug before they left in opposite directions home.

\--

Christmas for Betty was strange. She would never get used to it just being her and her mother, even if it had been that way for years now. Pieces of her life were missing. The life she had with her sister, her best friend and confidant. The wonderful memories growing up with her father, fixing cars, orange freezes at Pop’s.

  
She told Alice of her plans to visit Toledo for a few days into the new year. She wanted to put up a fight, but refrained, for the first time.

\--

The drive took forever, but she finally made it. She pulled in front of the address Archie had given her and looked around. It looked like a nice neighborhood, well maintained, it reminded her eerily of her own hometown. She began to wonder what secrets lie underneath the perfect exterior.

She looked up to the porch to find Jughead sitting on the steps. She smiled to herself. He seemed too relaxed, at ease. He was also incredibly stressed with his workload, or at least that is how it always seemed. She shot a text to Archie letting him know she’d arrived and got out of the car.

The slamming of the door grabbed Jughead’s attention. A small smile played on his lips before he cleared his throat and offered to help with her bag.

“So, little Coop, how was the rest of your semester?” Jughead asked as she made her way up the stairs toward him.

“Don’t call me that,” she said playfully but with a bitter edge. She hated to be referred to as little or mini Coop. It was what the kids at school referred to her as after her father was arrested. She would never be okay with what it insinuated.

“Okay. Sorry, _Betty_. How was the rest of your semester?”

Betty detailed the rest of her semester to Jughead, detailing particularly hard assignments that she knew he’d understand her pain about. He reciprocated as they entered the door before offering to take her bag and place it upstairs into Archie’s room. She waited patiently in the living room when she was greeted by an overzealous golden retriever.

“Well hi there!” She said as she bent down to play with him, her hands scratching behind his ears.

“Vegas, leave the poor girl alone,” she heard a voice say from the kitchen. Betty looked up to see an older, brunette man leaning against the doorway.

“Oh no, sir. He’s fine. Just happy to make a new friend, I think.” Betty laughed.

“You must be Betty. Archie has told me all about you. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, though, I have to say, he didn’t do your smile justice.” The man said, “I’m Fred, Archie’s dad.”

Betty blushed at the compliment. “Very nice to meet you, Mr. Andrews. Thank you for having me for the next few days. You’ll have to let me repay you somehow.” Betty blurted out nervously.

“No need, Betty. We’re glad to have you. Please, make yourself at home.” Fred slipped back into the kitchen to continue what he was doing before Betty had arrived. She was scanning the living room walls, taking in all of the family portraits and smiling faces when Archie and Jughead returned.  Archie snaked his arms around her waist from behind her and rested his chin on her shoulder after placing a small kiss to her cheek.

“Hey, Mr. Andrews. Would you happen to have a few tools I could borrow?” Betty asked I think the serpentine belt in my car is loose and I just wanted to adjust the tension before I use my car again.”

“Oh, I can take a look at that for you after dinner, darlin’,” Fred started.

“No, really. Just a half inch long-armed ratchet would do it. I used to fix up cars with my dad all the time when I was younger. Let’s call it a hobby,” Betty offered with a shrug.

“Well, anything you’d need is in the garage. Don’t let me stop you.” Fred laughed to himself.

Betty turned around to see Archie and Jughead, mouths open in shock.

“What?”

“How did I not know that?” Archie asked leading her to the garage.

Betty smiled and shrugged the comment off, she made a point not to talk about her dad so Archie would never know that.

Betty grabbed the tools she needed from the garage and headed down to her car. The boys stood behind her watching as she worked under the hood as the sun was setting. With a few turns of her wrist, the belt was tightened to her liking. She checked the level of her oil and other fluids and nodded, pleased with herself. She slung the rag over her shoulder and turned around after dropping the hood closed.

Jughead shook his head playfully as they made their way back into the house to have dinner with Fred.

\--

Their second semester was getting into full swing when Archie told Betty he wanted to pledge a fraternity.

“Betty, DKE is great! The guys are all pretty cool. I think it’d be a good fit for me.”

“What about PMAS? I mean, don’t let me stop you, but that seems more--I don’t know reputable?”

“A bunch of music nerds all living together, yeah okay. Sounds _really_ great.” He chided.

 _Better than a bunch of dudebros chasing any woman that even breathes in their direction, drinking cheap, lukewarm beer and not_ actually _studying,_ she thought to herself. She wasn’t going to argue with him. It was his life and he could do whatever he wanted to. She simply nodded her head and nestled back into his chest for the resumed movie night tradition.

As it turned out, being in the fraternity didn’t change him too much, at first. He still did his coursework as he intended to. He only dragged her out to an awful party once a month, unless Jughead was visiting, then they suffered together, drinking lukewarm beer and listening to incredibly insensitive conversations from other frat guys about women.

Betty had been talking to Jughead more after she’d spent time in Toledo. She had gotten a chance to actually get to know him, apart from his opposition to grammar. He repeated what Archie had told him about his parents and how he came to live with the Andrews family. She was ready to tell him about her family, until Archie walked in.

_How is it that I’m willing to tell Jughead, but not Archie?_

Maybe it spoke more to their budding friendship without interference from Archie, the undeniable connection they shared built more on commonality than anything else. When she thought about it, she wondered how Archie and Jughead had stayed friends despite their clear and drastic differences. She supposed that’s what having _real_ friends was like. It didn’t matter their differences or their families, all that matters is that they were there for each other.

Maybe one day she’d have that, too.


	2. Sophomore Year

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to my wonderful beta, Peyton (@peaceblessingspeyton/Peyton_0727) for her efforts in making this readable.
> 
> As always, a huge thank you to the sprinters of BFD and my girls for their constant support and encouragement. Love you.

Their second semester concluded as fast as it started. Before they knew it, Betty was headed back to Riverdale and Archie back to Toledo.

The summer passed quickly and their second year was underway. Betty and Archie celebrated their one year anniversary with little fanfare.

It was a few weeks into the new semester when their anniversary rolled around. It wasn’t much different than any other date they’d been on if she was being honest with herself. They went to their usual dinner spot and watched a movie. It was lowkey, but wasn’t altogether unpleasant. She thought back to the sheer nerves Archie had when he first said he loved her, the effort he put into writing a song for her. In comparison, their anniversary was just another day.

Sophomore year was notably more difficult than freshman year. Major classes taking the place of general education classes that were forced down their throats. Betty spent most of her time in the library doing research or writing pages upon a pages of fiction that hit too close to home. She was always told _write what you know_. In her case, this lead to stories of murderous fathers and runaway sisters.

She remained steadfast by Archie’s side like she had the year before. However, it was becoming more difficult for Betty as time went on. Instead of movie nights and dinners, it was frat parties and sitting alone at coffee houses watching Archie perform.

He was a wonderful performer, talented, there was no doubt about that, but Betty knew there was more to her life than simply being a musician’s girlfriend. She had her own dreams that didn’t really materialize until late in their sophomore year, when she’d get a job a local mechanic.

Betty had always known she wanted to be a writer, she had always been good at it. It may not have been the journalism her mother wanted her to study, but writing was her haven, her escape from reality, but she knew that wasn’t all she was meant to do with her life.

“Yo, Cooper!” a baritone voice rang out behind her. She was standing in the sophomore parking lot headed to meet Archie at yet another coffee house performance when she was approached by the voice.

“Moose! Hey. Long time, bud. What’s up?” She asked adjusting the strap of her purse over her shoulder.

“I was wondering if you could help me out. Andrews said you’re pretty decent with cars. It won’t start. Can you take a look?” Moose asked, his eyes pleading. He wasn’t sure if Archie had been lying to him, but where he came from women didn’t know anything about cars.

She checked her watch for the time and decided she had enough time to help her boyfriend’s former roommate. He lead her to his truck and showed her what was happening.

“Moose. I’m going to ask you a really stupid question. Did you leave the lights on overnight?” He couldn’t look her directly in the eyes. This was the only answer she needed. She pulled her car up in front of his and proceeded to jump the car. It started up easily and she disconnected the cables and slammed both hoods closed.

“You’re all set. Be more careful and next time you bring your car into the shop, you’ll probably need a tune up. Or I could do it for you over the weekend or something, if you want.” Betty shrugged.

Before she could turn around Moose had her in the air, swinging her around with mumbles of _thanks, Betty. You’re the best!_ She laughed. When she was placed firmly back on the ground, she fixed her ponytail and left for the coffee house.

It took her twenty minutes to find parking, by the time she made it into the coffee house, his set was nearly over. He ended with the song he wrote for her. She stayed by the door to watch him finish his song. When he stopped, he looked disappointed when he approached her. She was not in her normal seat toward the back.

He grabbed her wrist and dragged her outside after he set his guitar in the stand.

“Where were you? You missed my whole set!” He was angry. This was a first. He was usually an easy going, go with the flow kind of guy.

“I’m sorry, I was getting in the car and Moose stopped me and needed some help with his truck. That thing has definitely seen better days,” she digressed. “It took me forever to find somewhere to park. I’m sorry.” She apologized out of habit and looked at the floor nervously.

“If you didn’t want to come, you didn’t have to,” he said, still aggravated.

“I never said I didn’t want to come!” She snapped at him, her eyes finally meeting his. Her tone matched his and it surprised her. “I’m sorry things didn’t flesh out exactly as they normally do, but I wasn’t going to leave him stranded. Would you have?” Her arms were flailing around her as she gesticulated her points, leaving Archie standing there dumbfounded.

He had never heard her once raise her voice in anger or frustration, something she avidly avoided. “I guess you’re right. Sorry, I just like having you here.”

Their disagreement ended just as soon as it started as they walked back into the coffee shop, but it weighed heavily on Betty’s mind for quite some time thereafter. She knew their relationship couldn’t be sunshine and rainbows all the time, but in the year and a half they’d been together, this was their first _real_ fight. She had known that when it came to compromising, it was always her to bend to his whims, always Betty to sacrifice study time or her work hours to be the trophy girlfriend to the budding musician and football star.

She lay awake in her dorm one night thinking about all of the things she wanted to do with her life when her phone vibrated.

 **Jughead: I know you’re probably sleeping, but I need a hand if you don’t mind. If I don’t** **have this in by the end of the month, I won’t be eligible to graduate early.**

**Jughead: I need to get the hell out of Ohio. Think you can help me out, Coop?**

**Betty: What do you need, Jug? I wasn’t sleeping anytime soon, anyway.**

**Jughead: What’s got you down?**

How did he know? She thought she was acting naturally, how did he know something was on her mind?

**Betty: Has Archie always been this much of a bro? It’s starting to get a little unbearable. I know he’s your best friend and I shouldn’t actually be talking to you about this, but, Jesus Christ! I don’t think I can handle much more of his masculine power trip.**

And with the click of the send button, she knew her relationship was going downhill, but she didn’t know how quickly. She wasn’t sure when Jughead turned into more than just Archie’s best friend, but she’s thankful that he did.

Jughead explained to her that he went in waves that sometimes, even he had to pull away, which was exponentially easier now that they lived in different states. He let her vent about the argument they’d had more than a month ago, that was still on her mind.

**Jughead: Things will be fine, kiddo. No worries. But, seriously, will you help me or not? I’m on a deadline. Unless you’re busy. I’m sure you’ve got finals coming up, too.**

**Betty: Yeah, but nothing that isn’t already with my editor. :) Send it over. I’ll start it now, get in the document and we’ll pick it up there.**

Jughead emailed her the document entitled: BHRDNY. She didn’t think anything of it when she clicked open the document and began to to skim the opening paragraphs.

**EC: Jeez, this thing is a behemoth!**

**JJ3: Yeah, final research paper for the true crime elective I’m taking. There weren’t many options left when it came time to pick topics, so I was left with this guy. I’d never heard of him. I mean, he’s no Ted Bundy or David Berkowitz, but I suppose it’s been interesting enough.**

Betty perused the document for grammar, not paying attention to the words on the screen until she spied the words _Black Hood_ and _no national news coverage_.

**EC: Wait, this guy was on your list of true crime topics?**

**JJ3: Well, not him in particular, but small town murders was. I did some research and found him. Pretty interesting. Keep reading, you’ll know as much as I do when you’re done.**

**EC: I’m pretty sure I already know more than you do about this guy.**

**JJ3: What does that even mean?**

**JJ3: Betty?**

**JJ3: It’s been an hour and the cursor hasn’t moved.**

She stopped answering his messages. She sat glued to her bed, unable to move, to function, to think, to breathe. Her past had finally caught up with her. The least she could do was make sure the information was correct.

**EC: Hey sorry. Yeah. Um. About this. In the opening paragraph alone, I found mistakes, not grammatical. I think I’m starting to rub off on you.**

**EC: He wasn’t born in Riverdale, New York. He was born in Greendale, New York. He went to school at Riverdale High, not Greendale High. Where did you get this information from, anyway?**

**JJ3: Wikipedia...**

**EC: JUGHEAD! DIDN’T I TELL YOU THAT WIKI ISN’T A RELIABLE SOURCE?!**

She chuckled to herself. Jughead had a tendency to use the sources at the bottom of a wiki page as gospel, how they were allowing him to graduate early was beyond her. She had never thought about the possibility of incorrect information out there about her family, never thought that someone would create a wikipedia page about her father’s heinous crimes. The thing she was thankful for was that every article that was written surrounding the events left her and her sisters names out of it. They were minors at the time, leaving no legal wiggle room for them to print their names, even if they were technically victims themselves.

**JJ3: How do you know the information is incorrect?**

**JJ3: Betty?**

**JJ3: I’m sorry for using wiki as a source again. I really didn’t think you’d notice.**

**JJ3: Earth to Cooper? Helloooo?**

Within minutes of not answering him, yet again, her phone rang. She’d placed it on the nightstand next to her bed when she opened the document. It was late enough that she could ignore the text from Archie asking if she was awake. It was late enough to ignore her mother asking if she was coming home for the summer in just over a month. It, however, was not late enough to ignore Jughead’s now three missed calls.

She sat up straight in her bed when her phone rang for the fourth time. She put on her best Cooper trained smile and answered.

“Hello?”

“Don’t hello me, Betty. What’s wrong? You’re not answering me. What’s up?” Jughead’s voice was dripping with concern, the concern that Archie’s voice never mirrored, the concern that she never expected to hear from anyone, especially not Jughead.

“How do you know the information is wrong?” He asked matter of factly, voice still laced in trepidation.

Betty took a deep breath, crossing and uncrossing her legs. There was no way for her to avoid his questions like this. She couldn’t hide behind her keyboard. He’d be able to hear the fear in her voice. He’d know everything.

Another deep breath filled her lung before she breathed out, “The Black Hood is my dad.” Her voice was so quiet, she barely heard herself. She had never uttered the words before. Not to herself, not to anyone. She repeated herself when he didn’t answer.

“I heard you,” was the only thing he’d managed to say in response. He opened his mouth multiple times, unsure of what to say to her next.

“That’s how I know all those facts,” she said, her voice trembling as she tried to hold back tears. “Guess you’re lucky I’m your editor, huh?” She laughed through a watery sob, trying to mask the feelings that the topic had stirred in her.

“Yeah, lucky, I guess.” He was familiar with masking pain with humor, it was something he was well versed in, after all.

Betty went through step by step of her father’s crimes with him, how it affected their family, how it affected her, how she’d been in therapy before she left for college, how she threw herself into her work to avoid thinking about the irreversible damage he’d inflicted on her family.

“But you can’t tell Archie,” she finished. Her voice was calmer now after spending hours on the phone with Jughead. “He-- he doesn’t know _any_ of this.”

“What?” Jughead was flabbergasted. “What do you mean he doesn’t know any of this. Betty this is a lot of information he should _probably_ know about you. He would know how to help you when you can’t sleep or how to ease a panic attack, something. Why don’t you want him to know?”

“I can do all of that on my own. But it’s not like he’d even notice anyway,” she scoffed. She was tired. Tired from being awake all night, tired from running from herself, from her past, tired from keeping such an enormous thing from the boyfriend that loved her.

“He loves you, he’ll understand.” Betty wasn’t sure who he was trying to convince, her or himself.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Jughead Jones. He’s too wrapped up in himself currently that he doesn’t even know when his classes are. He’s too busy with DKE to care about anything but himself. I wouldn’t be surprised if he forgot he had a girlfriend the nights I didn’t go with him to those stupid keggers. God, I _fucking hate_ them.”

Jughead laughed. He didn’t mean to, not at all of it, but at the very last sentence. He didn’t expect that from her and she knew that. Her life was on the table for Jughead to read, but she didn’t hear pity in his voice when he spoke next, or throughout the entire conversation they’d had. She saw as he edited his paper right there in front of her eyes. The magic of the internet, she thought.

“Archibald Andrews is a lot of things, Betty, but he isn’t that kind of guy. Or at least he wasn’t. I can’t lie to you, he and I haven’t been on the best terms lately. He’s been kind of vacant, I don’t know how to describe it, but I think you know what I mean, but I don’t think--”

“Shit, is it morning, already?” She cut him off, letting out a long groan. She needed to be at work in two hours. There would be no time to sleep now. “Listen, Jug. Not that this conversation hasn’t been awful, because it has, no offense, but I have to get ready for work. I picked up extra hours at the garage.”

“Right! How’s that going? I’m sure those guys have something to say about a young lady besting them at their mechanical prowess.” He chuckled, ignoring the fact that she deemed the conversation awful, he couldn’t blame her. She rehashed years of her life that she’d spent the same amount of time guarding from the world. It opened up a new side of Betty Cooper that he didn’t expect to find, but now he couldn’t help but want to know more, to know everything.

They hung up the phone with Jughead promising not to tell Archie about their conversation, promises of more edits and reassurance that it was fine that he used her as a source. He even joked about it being an exclusive for him, which he wasn’t wrong. It really and truly was.

She busied herself at work until noon, drinking more coffee than she had the right to drink. She trudged home, dragging her feet. By the time she walked the two flights to her room, she thought to check her phone. When she reached her door, Archie was sitting with his back to it.

“Where have you been?” He asked, clambering to his feet. She looked down at herself, blue denim overalls coated in grease and grim, streaks of oil on her delicate hands, her usually impeccable blonde hair tossed haphazardly in a topknot.

“Work. Why are you here?” Betty unlocked the door, ready to leave once more to wash up from the long day of work and take a much needed nap.

“We were supposed to meet at eleven for breakfast, remember?”

“Right. Sorry, I got held up at work with one of the guys and,” she sighed, “I’m sorry. I didn’t sleep well last night and I wasn’t paying attention.”

“Are you sure everything is okay? It’s not like you to not pay attention to a clock. You keep to a schedule more rigidly than anyone I’ve ever met.”

She knew if the tables were turned, she’d be the one waiting for him. He was usually the one caught up in something less important than work, less important than she should have been.

“Yeah, like I said, just a bad night of sleep.”

Archie propped himself on her bed as she showered and got herself ready for their now lunch date. While she was in the shower, she debated on whether or not she should tell Archie. Maybe Jughead had a point, but she couldn’t. It was too late now. She was forced to lie in the bed she’d made.

Lunch was quiet, even for them. “So, there’s a mixer tomorrow night. Wanna go?” Archie asked swallowing a bite of his sandwich.

“No, not really. I’m really tired. I think I’m just going to go to bed early.”

“I feel like you say that everytime I ask you to go to one of these with me. You’re always tired.”

“Double major, new job, end of the semester.” She said pointedly. “It’s a lot of work, Archie. I’m sorry we can’t all just sit around strumming a guitar and writing songs. Some of us have to write papers and do research. It takes a lot of time.” Archie’s eyes grew wide then, twitching slightly. Clearly he was insulted. She took a deep breath. “Sorry, I didn’t mean for it to come out that way. That’s not what I mean.”

It was exactly what she meant. Archie, by any college student terms, was coasting his way to graduation in two years. He didn’t know what it meant to pull an all-nighter because he had to finish the last of his research. He didn’t know what i was like to sit in a library until well passed closing time, begging the librarian for five more minutes because the microfiche machine was giving her an issue. He lived a charmed college life, playing football and getting by with mediocre grades, just enough to keep his scholarship.

“I know. I’m sorry. I just feel like you hate them.”

“I do.”

“But, Jughead will be here. I’m sure he’ll wanna go.” Betty laughed louder than she intended to. ”What?”

“Jughead hates frat parties,” she said wrinkling her nose, “why would you think he’d wanna go?”

“I’m pretty sure I know my best friend, babe. He’s never said no.” Archie replied smugly.

“Do you know why? Because there are snacks. It’s legitimately the only reason. He goes because he can eat his weight in snack foods. Not that you’d know, because even when it’s just you and I that go, you’re off flitting around trying to impress Reggie or Chuck or whoever the hell needs your attention more than we do.”

“Fine. Stay home, but Jughead is already on his way. You can tell him yourself that you’re not going to the party tomorrow night.”

She did exactly that. She was a little surprised he hadn’t mentioned the trip to New York when they spoke the night, or was it morning, before.

The next day, Jughead and Betty were standing together in Archie’s room.

“If Betty doesn’t have to go, why do I have to go?” Jughead whined. “You know I hate these things, man.”

“Jesus, fine.” Archie snapped. “Come. Don’t come. I don’t care, but I’m leaving in a half hour. I told Chuck I’d help him set up. I’m trying to make an impression on these guys.”

Betty and Jughead simultaneously rolled their eyes at him.

“I’m so glad I drove hours to be here and you’re off at a party.” Jughead said sarcastically. “Fine, do your thing. I’ll hang with your girl until you decide to come back.” He raised his eyebrows suggestively as he threw himself onto her bed. She laughed and shook her head and his antics, and she usually did.

Archie walked over to Betty and placed a kiss to her cheek muttering words of _I’ll be back later._ He waved goodbye to Jughead and promptly left the room to ready himself for the party.

“Do you know he actually thought you’d wanna go?” Betty laughed.

“Spend twenty years of your life with a guy and you’d think he’d know you better than that,” he shrugged.

They had decided to order take out and watch a movie to pass the time, settling on one of her favorites.

“You know, I tried to get Archie to watch this with me, and he thought you put me up to it.”

“This movie is a cinematic masterpiece, he really is missing out.”

They laughed together and settled in to watch, chinese food containers now on her nightstand. Betty made it about twenty minutes into the movie before falling asleep against the wall. Jughead shifted carefully out of her bed and laid her down. The last thing she needed was a stiff neck. He pulled the desk chair from its spot and sat propping his feet up against the mattress and continued to watch the movie.

The movie had ended, Betty still asleep when Jughead decided to head down the hall to use the bathroom. He came back to Betty, still asleep, lightly snoring. He could see the exhaustion on her face. He pulled out his laptop and settled into the desk to work on the major edits he needed to get through on his paper.

He could hear her moving in bed. Not thinking anything of it, he proceeded to work on the paper.

Out of nowhere, Betty sat straight up, hand gripping at her chest. She looked around trying to catch her breath. Her eyes were open, but they were filled with terror. Her breaths were shallow, heart beating in her ears so loud, she couldn’t hear anything else around her. Logically, she knew she was in her dorm room, but in the throws of her nightmare, she was in her childhood bedroom, surrounded by pastels and flowers, watching her father brutally attack a man with no face, a man she desperately wanted to save, like all the others.The picture of the man was becoming more clear as the seconds past, like an distorted imaging gaining clarity.

The piecing blue of the man’s eyes was the clearest, everything else still clouded in terror. They were familiar, she’d seen them before. She shut her eyes tight trying to escape the image imprinting itself in her mind. The were burning into her retinas, but when she opened her eyes again, she still saw them, but they seemed more real this time. They were more real this time because the blue eyes belonged to Jughead who was sitting on the edge of the bed.

“Hey, you okay?” She didn’t respond. “Betty, wake up.” He shook her shoulders slightly, trying to pull her from the distress she was visibly in.

She heard his voice, but was barely able to register the words he was speaking. She nodded furiously, mostly trying to convince herself.

Jughead handed her a glass of water. She sipped it slowly, trying not to choke on her own breath. Jughead rubbed small circles across her back trying to comfort her.

After his conversation with Betty the previous night, where she revealed everything to him about her life, he read up on grounding techniques for anxiety, tactile comfort being one of them. He whispered softly until she could respond to him with her words.

“Hey. It’s gonna be alright. I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”

She couldn’t make out the words at first, but after a while the drumming in hear ears subsided, leaving the room strangely silent. She could feel the steady stroke of his hand on her back, the soft words around her like the most comforting blanket she’s ever had.

She blinked rapidly and turned her head to face Jughead. The lights were still on, his laptop abandoned at her desk. He was sitting next to her trying to ease her mind. Her mind raced to Archie, would he even know what to do if this happened while he was here?

“Thank you,” she was able to finally croak out. Her throat felt raw, like she’d been screaming for hours or hadn’t used her voice in weeks. She knew neither of these things to be true. It had been so long since her last anxiety attack, but here she was, finally able to catch her breath, her cheeks stained with tear tracks. She had barely even cried in front of Archie, let alone wake from a nap with her body revolting against her.

“What happened?” Jughead’s hand was still circling her back, his voice still just soft enough for her to hear.

It took her longer than she anticipated to answer him. She knew it was a panic attack, she’d conquered them before on her own. This was the first time someone else had ever been next to her to help pull her from it, to ground her back into reality.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. Tears began to flow again as Betty tried to lay back down. Jughead wouldn’t let her lay back down, her breathing still too shallow for his liking. He pulled her in to cradle her, but from his position, it was awkward to hold her.

He knew he probably shouldn’t have, but someone needed to be there for her. She needed someone, and in that moment, he was all she had. Archie wouldn’t understand, he didn’t know and he probably never would.

He shifted his position fully onto her bed his back against the wall. He pulled her onto his outstretched legs, pressing her back against his chest. Her knees bracketed his thighs. He placed her hands on her stomach and her chest, his hands covering hers.

“Don’t be sorry. Just breathe with me, Betty. It’s gonna be okay. I promise.” With Jughead’s help, her breathing evened out faster than it ever had before. Within minutes, she was feeling the air rush through her lungs at full capacity, instead of the pinpoint streams.

Betty pulled her legs from around his thighs and sat sideways in his lap, tucking her head under his chin. She listened to the steady thrum of his heart beneath his sweatshirt as he resumed rubbing her back. She fiddled with her hands in her lap.

“I’m sorry,” she said nuzzling her head deeper into him.

“Hey. Hey, don’t be sorry. You have _nothing_ to be sorry for. I’m just glad I was here to help you.”

“I would have been fine,” she tried to reassure him, “but, thank you.”

“When?”

“Later. Tomorrow. Eventually.” she said shutting her eyes, nearly embarrassed for the behavior she couldn’t control.

“Wanna tell me what happened? And don’t say a panic attack. I already know that much.”

Betty chuckled. His plan had worked. He wanted to make her laugh after what her body had just underwent. His sense of humor was the only thing he had to offer her in that moment.

“It’s stupid.”

Jughead moved her slightly away from from his chest, purposefully showing her his face which was etched with a _don’t give me that bullshit_ look. “Wanna try that again?” he asked raising an eyebrow at her.

“I had a nightmare about my dad,” her voice had barely been above a whisper since she could speak again. She felt like a child, unable to control her emotions, unable to be okay after a nightmare. It had been three years, five months, and sixteen days since her last panic attack, but who was counting?

“I’m sorry. It’s my fault.” He tugged her back into his chest, smoothing loose hairs behind her ear.

“You didn’t know. There was no way for you to know. But y’know what?” she asked pulling away from his touch, looking him in the eyes. His eyes were painted still with the concern she heard in his voice the night before. There was no pity there, her heart fluttered against her ribcage.

“What?”

“I feel better now that someone else knows. I didn’t think I would. I still don’t think Archie will understand, so please don’t tell him about any of this.” She was sick of wanting Archie to understand, but knowing he never would.

“I won’t.”

Jughead stayed with Betty well into the night. Archie hadn’t come by to get him, he hadn’t called or texted since just after he’d gotten to the party. The next morning, they woke tangled in each others arms.

Her body was sore from sharing the cramped mattress with someone she wasn’t used to, but considering her physical pain, she hadn’t slept better in a long time, whether it was from sheer exhaustion or Jughead’s presence, she wasn’t sure, however she assumed it was the former. She slipped quietly out of her room to shower and get ready for the day. The only thing she’d planned to do was work on the editing she promised Jughead she’d get to. When she returned to her room, fully dressed and ready for the day, Jughead was still asleep.

She grabbed her keys and set out for coffee and breakfast. She knew that if she was going to wake Jughead up after being awake half the night again, it would soften the blow if there were pancakes or, at the very least, coffee.

Walking back into her building, her phone rang and Archie’s face flashed across the screen.

“Good morning,” she answered, her voice still mildly horse.

“Hey. Have you seen Jughead? He wasn’t in the room when I woke up.”

“He wasn’t there when you got back either, whatever time that was. He’s asleep in my room.”

Archie paused. “Oh. I could have sworn he was here when I got back.”

“Nope. Are you still drunk?”

“Probably. I’m going to sleep now, though. That should help.”

“I’m so glad _your_ best friend came all the way out here from Ohio for you to be drunk and asleep the majority of his visit,” she quipped.

“You guys will be fine! Thanks, babe! Love you.”

Betty hung up the phone on her still drunk boyfriend. Considering his behavior before Archie left for the party, it  surprised her that he wasn’t even remotely concerned about her being alone with Jughead.

Betty knew herself, she knew she’d never cheat on Archie. She wasn’t the kind of person to do that. What she did know is that she was not exactly in a position to have men lining up to make that happen. She stayed away from men usually, not because she was afraid of them (or Archie) but because they genuinely didn’t interest her. But Jughead, he was a different story.

Jughead interested her in a lot of ways she wasn’t prepared for. Of course she noticed that he was handsome, beautiful even in a very different way than Archie. He was attentive when she spoke to him, he was able to comfort her in a way not even her mother could do. He was smart, talented, passionate, all of these qualities combined into someone that Betty may have been looking for at some point in her life.

Archie: conventionally handsome, sports oriented, dudebro ginger. This wasn’t the person she met at orientation. He’d evolved into a lesser version of himself, not caring about anything besides being accepted by his fraternity and barely scraping by.

Betty stood outside of her bedroom door contemplating everything before walking through. Maybe she was made to be more than just Archie’s girlfriend, maybe she didn’t want to be that at all.

She walked through the door juggling the coffees in one hand and the plastic bag of food in the other. She turned the knob quietly, not wanting to wake Jughead up as she slipped back in. When she turned around, he was sitting straight up, his back to the wall as he had been the night before with her in his arms.

“I got breakfast,” she said holding up the contents of her hands. She handed him the coffee and placed the bag on her bed.

“I didn’t know where you went. I was worried,” his eyes were staring at his feet, toes pointed in, twitching his toes.

“I’m okay, Jug, really. I figured if I was going to wake you up this early, I should be prepared with rations.” Betty recalled countless stories of how Archie nearly lost a limb for waking Jughead up early without coffee. “Besides, the only thing I had on my to do list today was to edit your paper, and you’re here, so we can that together, if you want.”

“You don’t have to. I can get someone else,” Jughead said. He knew that his paper had brought up terrible memories for her, that his paper was the reason she had a panic attack the night before. He didn’t want her to have another one because of him.

“Jughead, I already told you I’d do it. I can’t back out now. Besides, Archie is still drunk and is only now just going to sleep, so you’re stuck with me,” she smiled.

He finally relented, realizing he would never win this argument. He sipped the coffee gratefully, slowly waking up as the caffeine rushed through his veins.

\--

Archie finally came around again just after three in the afternoon.

**Archie: Okay, I’m alive. Killer headache, but alive.**

**Archie: Thanks again for watching after Jug. I hope it wasn’t too much of a hassle.**

“Watching after Jug?” She repeated to the raven haired boy seated next to her. “What are you, a puppy?”

“I mean, essentially, yeah, I am.” He winked at her and smiled. “Thanks for keeping me company though. If I’d known this is what this weekend was going to turn into, I probably would have stayed in Ohio, but I’m glad I got to spend the time with you, even if it was a little rocky.”

Betty smiled at his confession. “Me, too.”

Within a half hour, Archie was walking into Betty’s door. He found them sitting on her bed, laptop open, books strewn about in every direction. He looked at the both, tilting his head to the side.

“This is what you chose to do today? Homework?!”

“What else were we gonna do?” Jughead shrugged. “I have a deadline. She’s my editor. You were unconscious. Win-win.”

Archie rolled his eyes. He never cared about deadlines. He was an athlete, deadlines didn’t apply to him. “Are you gonna do this all day?”

It was Betty’s turn to roll her eyes. “I guess we can take a break. We’ve been at this for like six hours and we’re not even a quarter through yet. Lunch?” She suggested flippantly knowing the specifics of the assignment were going straight over Archie’s head.

“Have I ever said no to food?”

\--

The rest of the weekend went by quicker than they thought. Archie insisted on going to yet another DKE party, leaving Betty and Jughead on their own for another night. They made a bigger dent in his paper, correcting wrong information, incorrect grammar, improper citations. Betty would admit that Jughead was brilliant, but his technical skills left something to be desired.

They didn’t hear from Archie again until the next morning when they woke up in the same position they had the morning before, legs and arms entangled. Later that morning, Jughead returned to Ohio and Betty and Archie returned to their weekly routines.

Sundays they usually went to the Commons to wander. Betty always dragged Archie to the bookstore and he always pouted about it. He never understood how someone could read so many books. The only other person he knew that actually enjoyed reading was Jughead.

“So, what did you and Jug do all weekend?” Archie asked as they sipped their coffee.

“Mostly edited his paper, honestly. We took a break and watched a movie, but then went right back to it. He has to have it in by finals weeks or he can’t graduate.”

“Graduate? He’s only a junior.”

“He’s been taking winter and summer sessions. Once this paper is turned in, he’s set to be done. You knew that.”

“No, he didn’t tell me that.”

“I was standing right next to you when he called about it.” Betty shook her head and pursed her lips. “You’ve kind of been a shitty friend to him lately.” _And a shitty boyfriend_ , she thought.

“Excuse me?” He raised an eyebrow in frustration.

“He was here all weekend and you spent all of what, an hour or two with him? You didn’t remember he was graduating early. He said you’ve been a little hot and cold like this your whole lives, but never this--” She couldn’t find the word so she trailed off, putting her free hand in her pocket, nervously picking the lining.

“You guys know the end of the semester is important for pledges. I need to make an impression on these guys if they’re gonna let me in.”

Betty shook her head, furious that he was making this about the fraternity, again.

“Can we go home, I want to get a jump start on studying for finals. They’ll be here before we know it.” Her voice was mellow, monotone even. She didn’t want to have this discussion anymore. She had seen the person he’d become, but he couldn’t see it himself. She knew she’d have to confront her feeling eventually, but for now, she needed to study for finals.

In the midst of her studying, Betty’s phone vibrated on the bed next to her.

**Jughead: Just letting you know I made it back.**

**Jughead: Thanks again for all your help this weekend. If I graduate this semester, I owe you big time.**

**Betty: Anytime. Glad you made it back safe.**

**Betty: I’m sorry again for everything.**

**Jughead: I told you not to apologize. But, Betty?**

**Betty: Jughead?**

**Jughead: If it happens again, will you call me?**

Betty’s heart hammered in her chest. He didn’t say you _can_ call me, he explicitly asked her to call him. He _wanted_ to help her. This was something altogether new.

In the weeks that passed, she hadn’t slept as well as she had when Jughead was around. Whenever she lay in bed with Archie, she couldn’t help but notice how she didn’t seem to fit as seamlessly as she did with Jughead. She tried to shake the thought from her head and focus on her finals.

She passed her finals with flying colors, as expected. She maintained her immaculate grade point average. The garage had offered her a full time position over the summer. She had been contemplating staying in Ithaca for the summer instead of returning home, but didn’t have a valid enough reason. This was her reason.

She found herself a small, two bedroom apartment close enough to campus, but close to her job that she could theoretically walk to both. Her rent was well within her means, as she no longer had to pay for a meal plan, and the money she made at the garage was better than she anticipated.

When it came time to move from the dorms into the new apartment, Archie was there to help her, as he had been their first day of college.

“I was thinking that maybe you’d wanna live here once the school year started,” Betty offered quietly as she unpacked. She wasn’t entirely sure why she was asking him to move in with her. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to _be_ with him.

“That sounds great,” he said with a smile, placing the box of kitchen items into her new kitchen.

His smile didn’t sit right with Betty. Not that it wasn’t genuine, but it certainly wasn’t the enthusiastic response she was expecting. She sighed, almost relieved that he didn’t sound enthusiastic about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me hear it. How do we feel? Feedback is the lifeblood of a fic writer, friends. 
> 
> As always, find me on tumblr: shrugheadjonesthethird


	3. Junior Year

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you as always for the wonderful comments! 
> 
> Again, thank you to Peyton (@peaceblessingspeyton) for being an angel and being the best beta around. Love you!  
> And as always, love to my girls for their constant support and encouragement. Love you guys.

The summer went quickly as Betty filled her days with oil changes and engine work. She’d taken a summer course to get ahead for the semester and before she knew it, Archie was back in town for football training. 

She’d just finished getting dressed after her shower when a knock came to her front door. She wasn’t expecting anyone, but it was only a matter of time before Archie came by with some things to move in. He stood at her front door empty handed, a gym bag over his shoulder. She ushered him in expecting a grand reunion since they hadn’t seen one another in weeks, but all she got was a kiss on the cheek and muffled ‘ _ hey babe’ _ .

Her eyebrows knitted together as she closed the door behind her. She opened her mouth to speak, but his voice sounded first.

“I’m not moving in.” He said, his voice shrouded in excitement rather than regret or disappointment.

“What?” 

“They offered me a spot at the house! This is what I’ve been waiting for!”

“What?” She blinked at him rapidly in disbelief.

“DKE! They offered me a spot at the house. I couldn’t tell them no. I thought you’d be happy for me.”

“You thought I’d be--” she rubbed her fingers into her temples “--happy? I asked you to move in with me months ago. You agreed to it, now all of a sudden because these stupid frat guys give the high sign you’re off running to  _ them _ ?” She was pacing the living room frustrated with him. How could he be so inconsiderate of her feelings, then again, he really always had been. “Do what you want. I don’t care.” Her hands slapped to her thighs.

“I mean, if you need a roommate, Jug is looking for a place,” he shrugged. He said it so flippantly.  _ Roommate _ .

“A roommate? You realize I’m your girlfriend, right?”

“Well, yeah, but the boys. Jug’s a great roommate, well, mostly. You guys get along, what’s the issue?”

With that, another knock came to her door. Without a look at Archie, she answered the door. There, standing before her, was Jughead Jones. A smile graced her lips for the first time that afternoon, her eyes were curious, unable to comprehend why he was on her front steps.

“What’re you--”

Jughead walked passed her and waited for her to close the door before scooping her up and swinging her around the living room. The giggle that erupted from her chest filled the apartment. She always seemed to laugh a little deeper, a little louder when Jughead was around.

“I did it,” he whispered across the shell of her ear. Her eye were shining with pride for him. He let her down to the floor gently. She threw her arms around his waist and hugged him tighter than he knew she could. Her eyes spoke the only words he needed to hear. She was proud of him, and he could see that.

“Sorry for interrupting. I got excited, I couldn’t wait,” Jughead said plopping himself down on the couch.

Betty squared off her shoulders to Archie.

“This conversation is  _ not  _ over.” She took a deep breath, her fingers tapping at her hips bones as she paced the room before she continued. “This was never about a roommate, Archie! This was about us moving in together and starting our life together. But, clearly you’re not ready for that, so go. Live with your bros,” she air quoted, “see how that works out for you.”

Jughead fidgeted uncomfortably on the couch, watching the conversation unfold.

“I will, but I’ll still be here, like all the time, I swear.” Archie attempted to grasp her hands in his but she turned her back to face Jughead. She rolled her eyes at Archie’s attempt at physical contact, growing more frustrated by the minute that he wasn’t understanding why she was so angry.

“Do you really need a place a live?” Betty asked him, voice still aggravated, but lighter than it had been just a moment before; she knew her issue wasn’t with Jughead, it would have been unfair to direct her anger toward him. He simply nodded, picking invisible lint from his jeans. “Well then, welcome home,” a sweet half smile was on her lips before turning away.

He looked her in the eyes then, right before she turned away, seeing a glimmer that terrified him. He realized in that moment, as he watched her eyes dance before his, that he was slowly falling for his best friend’s girlfriend, while she had been quickly falling out of love with his best friend.

She stormed off to her bedroom and slammed the door behind her. She needed a minute to decompress, to process what was happening. Instead of her boyfriend moving in with her, his best friend would be. His best friend who she may or may not have thought about after long hours of work, the best friend that she itched to talk to more than she should, the best friend that could ease her mind in ten words or less. What was she even doing? 

She emerged from her bedroom, slightly calmer than she’d been five minutes earlier. She would be glad for the company, even if it wasn’t what she had anticipated. 

Archie looked to Jughead and mouthed  _ what the fuck _ when she sat herself in the chair across from them. Jughead rolled his eyes. How was he best friends with such an asshole.

“Well, I gotta go to practice. I’ll come by later,” he walked to Betty and leaned down for a kiss. She turned her cheek. He looked at her like she’d slapped him square across the face.

Jughead bit back a laugh. 

Archie made his way back to the door and left.

“So, I live here now?” Jughead asked her, finally looking up.

“It appears that way,” Betty shrugged. 

Jughead left his spot on the couch and squatted in front of her. He used his index finger to raise her chin, forcing eye contact. He raised his eyebrows.

“You’re allowed to not be okay, y’know. I don’t know who he thinks he is to act that way. No one deserves that, especially not you.”

Betty’s eyes scanned his face, she wasn’t sure what she was looking for, but his eyes were so clear, full of something that she could only label as adoration.

“What does that mean, especially not me?”

“I just mean that you’re the person who gives everything they have into something they’re doing. You’re the kind of person who would sacrifice your dreams and life for someone else. You’re a  _ good _ person. You don’t deserve to be walked all over.” His smile was genuine and contagious. 

\--

Betty helped Jughead settle into the apartment over the course of the following weeks. He’d gotten a job freelance writing while working on what he said was a novel, but she wasn’t entirely sure what he was working on. He was pretty private about it. They had fallen into a routine once the semester had started.

Betty’s classes were three days a week from seven to twelve; she worked at the garage two days a week from seven to one. Jughead was usually asleep after being up all night writing while she was out of the apartment. They would have dinner together most nights. Archie would come over a few nights a week when he wasn’t ‘too busy’, but he rarely stayed overnight.

Toward the middle of the semester, Betty’s sleep evaded her. Archie had been around less often with Jughead keeping her from nose diving into a pit of despair in his absence. 

They sat on the couch watching reruns of Criminal Minds when Betty felt the need to bare her soul. 

“I think I'm gonna break up with Archie,” she whispered almost to herself, knowing he would hear her.

“Come again?”

“Don't make me say it again,” she said, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. She was overwhelmed with every emotion she'd been trying to suppress throughout the semester. She had thought about breaking up with him the night Jughead moved in, after their argument, when he just about refused to live with her as planned, but didn’t have it in her. 

As she sat on the couch taking deep breaths, nearly ready to speak again, Jughead spoke first.

“I know you’re not happy. I can see on your face everyday when you get home. You haven’t been for a while. Why keep putting yourself through it?”

“How is it that you can see it, but he can’t? How is it that you know what I’m feeling before he does almost every time?” Betty was frustrated. 

It wasn’t a secret that Betty and Jughead had gotten closer since he’d moved it. It was domestic and wonderful, exactly what she was looking for, but instead of the ginger boyfriend she’d been with for two years, it was his best friend, who at this point she considered her best friend, too.

She couldn’t pinpoint when exactly she started falling for Jughead, but she knew she couldn’t lie to herself anymore.

Jughead shrugged, “just observant, I guess.”

“Jug--” she was interrupted by a knock, more like a pounding, at the door. Her eyes flitted to the clock on the cable box  _ 11:45 _ . She heard the person knocking incessantly, trying to turn the knob vigorously. 

“Betty! Open the door, it’s me! Jug? Are you guys home?” Archie’s voice barreled through the emptiness. 

“He’s definitely drunk.”

“Why doesn’t he just use his key?”

Jughead got up from his place on the couch and opened the door. Archie nearly fell into the apartment.

“Jug, my man! Bro, you missed a hell of a party.”

“Clearly, if you’re here at quarter to twelve.” His voice was dripping in sarcasm, very clearly annoyed.

Betty stayed on her side of the couch, blanket tucked around her legs. She barely looked up at him. In that moment, she knew exactly what she needed to do. She didn’t want this life with him, not anymore. 

“Hi baby!” His words were slurred and as he approached her, she could smell the alcohol radiating off of him. Betty winced when he plopped down next to her. Archie may not have noticed, but Jughead definitely did.

Betty took a deep breath. She saw his eyes fluttering closed, about to pass out.

“Why don’t you go into bed, Arch. I’ll be there in a bit,” her voice was soft and soothing despite the frustration in her eyes.

Jughead walked Archie into Betty’s room, flopped him on her bed and closed the door as he walked back into the living room. He dropped himself directly next to her on the couch, closer than he had in the past. 

“I can’t sleep next to him,” she said.

“No one said you had to.”

They stayed on the couch talking, Betty trying to formulate a plan on how to break up with Archie. Jughead listened as she talked herself into and out of it for nearly two hours before she eventually fell asleep curled into the end of the couch opposite him. He watched her fitful sleep, not wanting to step away, just in case.

When it seemed her sleep was peaceful, he left the couch for his bedroom. He was happy she was comfortable with him. He was happy they’d become so close, but what concerned him was the glimmer in her eyes whenever they were together. It wasn’t the same one she had for Archie. He’d seen them together enough to know she didn’t have that for him, at least not anymore, and not in quite some time.

He had suppressed his feelings for Betty. Smart, driven, beautiful, what was there not to like? He had to remind himself that she was with Archie, why he still wasn’t sure, but now. Now, she wouldn’t be anymore. Maybe he could finally say something.

The next morning, Jughead left his room to find Betty still curled up on the couch. She wasn’t asleep, but she definitely wasn’t awake, at least not fully. He went into the kitchen preparing coffee for himself and tea for her, as he usually did when they were home together in the mornings. 

“What time is it?” She asked when he sat next to her holding out a cup of tea. She sat up and stretched her limbs, still stiff from sleeping on the couch. “Thanks.”

“Almost eleven,” he said sipping from his mug. “How long have you been awake just laying here?”

“Since eight. I didn’t wanna move. I thought about going into my room to get my computer, but I didn’t want to wake him up. I’m not ready to face this yet.” Her voice was sad, but there was a note of happiness behind it.

“Whatever happens, I’ll be here. Whenever you’re ready.” His words seemed to hold more weight than just simply he’d be in the apartment, like maybe he meant strictly for her. Her eyes scanned his face. Maybe she wasn’t overthinking the hidden meaning behind his words. When did this happen? How had they both been blind to it?

Betty placed her tea cup on the table in front of them. Jughead’s hand soothed her shoulder, his smile soothed her heart as it fluttered in her chest. She knew she could do it. She’d waited too long; it was time to take back her life.

“But on a lighter note, I got an email early this morning from  _ The New Yorker _ . They want me to interview for a full time writer’s gig.” He didn’t want Betty to think about her impending argument with Archie, at least not if he could help it. 

“Jug, that’s fantastic! I guess they really liked that piece you sent them, huh?” Betty was excited. The same glint apparent in her eyes the day he told her he had graduated early was present.

“I guess so. More tea?”

Jughead sat up and walked to the kitchen, setting to refill their cups as Archie emerged from Betty’s room, arms stretched above his head, yawning. 

“Please say there’s more coffee,” Archie mumbled as he threw himself into the chair in the living room. Betty was thankful he didn’t choose to sit next to her.

“Sorry, fresh out,” Jughead winked at Betty sipping from his mug deeply. She scrunched her nose, knowing very well there was still half a pot on the counter. She appreciated what he was doing. “I’m just gonna go shower and all that. That okay?”

He looked at Betty to make sure she’d be okay. He wouldn’t be far if she needed him, but he knew he needed to give her privacy. With a small nod, he took his coffee into his room and shut the door.

“Is there really no coffee?”

“Would you forget about the coffee for a minute, please? Besides, you should be having water.” Archie rolled his eyes. “I think we need to talk.” 

Betty’s hands wrung in her lap. She picked the skin at her cuticles and bit the inside of her lip nervously. Maybe she couldn’t do it.

“I think we need to break up,” Betty’s voice was small, almost afraid. She sighed and looked up to Archie. He sat with his hands in his hair.

“I’m just--,” she was building her confidence, her voice getting slowly louder with each passing second, “--I’m not happy anymore, and we hardly see each other. I just don’t think we’re working.”

“You’re kidding, right?” He snapped his head up. His eyes flashed with confusion then anger as he processed what she said. “What does that even mean?”

“Which part, Archie, the fact that we never see each other is pretty self explanatory, or that I’m not happy anymore? You can’t possibly be that blind, can you? If Ju--” she cut herself off before she could bring Jughead into it. Betty had found her voice, she was finally letting all of her aggravation out on the person who deserved it, instead of herself. “It’s like I hardly know you anymore. You’re definitely not the same person from freshman orientation.”

“Oh, because you’re perfect and stayed exactly the same?”

“I never said that I was! There is still a lot about me that I’m learning. There are still things that I want to accomplish, but I can’t do that if I’m chasing you around a frat party to make sure you get home safely.”

“You know that is important to me!” Archie’s argument was always irrational. He never said the right thing. He wasn’t trying to fight for her. She was sure he’d given up on their relationship months ago, just as she had.

“And what’s important to me, Archie? What’s my dream?”

He hesitated. “School?”

Betty rubbed her temples in frustration, her nostrils flared as she took a few calming breaths.

“You can’t even tell me what I want to do after graduation, yet you think breaking up is the wrong answer. Do you hear yourself? I think you know this has been a long time coming. I should have just done this before the semester started.” Betty shook her head, tears spilling from her face, not from sadness, but anger and frustration.

Months of pent up frustration poured from her mouth as she told Archie exactly how she’d been feeling. By the look on his, he couldn’t comprehend where it was coming from. He had been living in a bubble of his own, a bubble that didn’t seem to include Betty or her feelings.

“Y’know what, fine! And to think I was going to ask you to come with LA with me,” Archie scoffed.

She glared at him, “What does that have to do with anything?”

“I got a call from a recording studio in LA, they heard me perform. They want me to go out there and work with them. I was going to ask you to come with me.”

“What about school? We only have a year and a half left, but of course, you probably didn’t think about  _ us  _ when you decided to make a major life decision.”

“Fuck school! I’m going out there. I figured you’d just transfer or something.” 

Betty shook her head in disbelief. Had he been this inconsiderate their entire relationship?

Archie walked away and pounded on Jughead’s door. “C’mon Jug. Let’s get out of here!”

Jughead slowly opened his bedroom door, empty coffee cup in his hand, peering cautiously around the wall in search of Betty. She was standing in the middle of the living room, fists resting against her hips, breathing shallow, tears staining her cheeks. 

His heart broke at the sight of her so distraught. He knew it would be okay in the long run, he knew she was doing what she needed to do, but dammit, if it didn’t rip his heart in two to hear his best friend treat her with such disdain. 

He didn’t dare near Betty. He didn’t know what he’d do, but he figure it would be easier to keep a safe distance, at least until Archie was gone.

“I said let’s go,” Archie said turning back to Jughead. He stayed rooted in his spot, not moving, eyes flickering toward Betty, looking for an answer.

“I think you need to go, Archie,” Betty said quietly. “Jughead, you’re more than welcome to stay, but I understand if you want to leave, too.”

Jughead’s neck snapped to look at her his stormy blues meeting her watery greens.  _ I said I wasn’t going anywhere, I meant it. _ The silent conversation was everything she needed in that moment. 

Archie looked as if he’d been punched in the gut. He knew that Jughead heard the entire argument, knew they’d broken up only moments before. Was he choosing to stay with Betty over leaving with him?

“You’re really not coming?” Archie asked him, his voice still dripping in anger.

“I’m pretty sure Betty asked you to leave, man. Leave your key on the counter. You can come back later if you’ve left anything here.” He was slowly creeping closer to Betty.

“Whatever, fuck you both.” He slammed the small metal on the countertop, next to Jughead’s empty cup and then the door thundered closed behind him. Within seconds, Betty crumbled to the floor, tears flowing full force. Her breathing was ragged, hands trembling. 

Jughead didn’t hesitate to settle himself on the floor behind her, pulling her between his outstretched legs, nestling his chin into her shoulder. He didn’t know if this is what she needed, or if she was even having a panic attack, but if it could help her in some way, he’d do it. He realized months ago, after her nightmare, that he would do anything to make sure she was okay, no matter what.

Her fists burrowed into themselves to try to steady the shakiness, but to no avail. She winced in pain when she felt the telltale sting of nails piercing flesh-- one she hadn’t felt in longer than she could remember. He flattened her palms into his, whispering words of solace and encouragement into her hair.

She inhaled deeply through her nose to steady herself. She knew Jughead heard everything she’d said. She had to be cognizant with her choice of words when she unloaded on Archie. She knew, in the back of her mind, that he’d be listening to make sure she was okay. She was grateful for that. But she needed to leave her bubbling feelings for Jughead out of it, she still did. It wasn’t the time or place to bring that up now.

“I’m sorry I ruined your good news.”

Jughead didn’t know what she was going to say when she was able to get the words out, but it surely was not that.

“That’s seriously what you’re thinking about right now?” Jughead chuckled lowly, his face still buried in her tousled blonde hair. “Do you ever put yourself first?”

“I just did, didn’t I?” He could hear the smile in her voice. It was the first time in a long time, that he heard it there. Part of him wanted to think it had something to do with him, but he knew better. She’d just broken up with his best friend. It was not the time, or place, to give his feelings for her wings-- maybe one day he would.

Over the course of the following week, Betty gathered all of Archie’s things: laundry he’d left, his coffee mug, trinkets he’d given her over the course of two years. Anything she found that even remotely reminded her of him was put in a nondescript brown cardboard box, ready to be picked up at his convenience. 

That day finally came. Archie had called Jughead to arrange the pick up, Betty locking herself in her room to avoid seeing him. She knew she was stronger than that, she knew she could handle seeing him, but she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. 

But maybe she could let him see that without him, she was going to be fine. She could stand on her own two feet and thrive like she’d always planned. She didn’t need a boyfriend to define her, she didn’t need  _ him  _ to know who she was. 

She made sure she looked normal, not like she’d been an emotional wreck for nearly a week. She was surprised that the overwhelming emotion she’d felt over the week wasn’t sadness, but frustration. Was she sad her relationship had ended? Honestly, no. The person she broke up with was not the person she’d started dating. She was upset at the loss of who he was, the idea of the lift they could have had before life had changed him.

She shook the thoughts from her head before pulling herself together. Her hair was down in loose waves, not wanting to aggravate the headache she’d been harboring since the last time she’d seen him by putting it up into a ponytail. Her jeans were perfectly cuffed at the ankle, the plain blue t-shirt hung over her shoulders easily. Normal. Comfortable. Betty.

She emerged from her room to find Jughead watching television on the couch. He had been giving her the space she said she needed after her breakdown the night she kicked Archie out. Seeing her put together, as she normally was, was refreshing to say the least. It meant progress.

“Want some coffee?” She called from the kitchen.

“Always,” he chuckled. 

A short time later, she entered the living room, coffee in hand, and settled into the couch next to Jughead. He muttered his thanks as he took the mug from her and smiled.

“Feeling better today?”

“Yeah, much. Thanks for being so great about all of this. I’m sure it hasn’t been easy for you, either. Your best friend and his girlfriend, who happens to be your roommate break up. I’m sure he’s vented to you about all of it.”

“He tried to. I shut that down pretty quickly.” Betty gave him an incredulous look trying to figure out what he meant by that. “Well, after being your sounding board the night before, and  _ hearing _ the break up through these very thin walls, nothing you said was wrong. He’s been insufferable.”

“I know he’s your best friend. I’m sorry I’ve put you in this kind of situation. You don’t deserve any of this.” 

“You’ve been a better friend to me since I’ve moved in than he has been in the last few years. Don’t get me wrong, I love the guy, but our friendship has never made sense,” Jughead took a healthy swig of his coffee before continuing. “Our parents were friends. You remember Fred, I’m sure. He and my dad grew up together. It only made sense that we were friends.”

Betty nodded, but didn’t speak.

“When high school hit, we went in different directions, as you could probably tell. I started writing more, he took up sports, then eventually music. I needed to get out, so I set my path to graduate early, but I didn’t go too far. Oberlin gave me a full ride, I didn’t want to be too far from my sister. It made sense. It was easier to be friends with him when I was away, honestly. I didn’t have to see the person he was becoming. I just didn’t think it would ever get this bad.”

“Maybe having you in his life prolonged the inevitable? Maybe he was always destined to be this. I don’t see how though, Mr. Andrews might just be the nicest man I’ve ever met. How we go from him to Archie, I don’t think I’ll ever understand.” Betty shrugged taking a sip of her own coffee before the conversation continued.

“We’ll always be friends, I have no doubt about that, but it has definitely been a lot more one-sided since he left Ohio.” Jughead rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

A quiet rap on the door broke their conversation. Betty took a deep breath, knowing who was on the other side.

“You sure you wanna be out here for this?” She nodded behind her coffee cup and settled herself further into the couch, crossing her ankles and she propped her legs on the coffee table.

Jughead moved from his spot on the couch to answer the door. He looked over to Betty one last time and threw her a kind hearted wink before he opened it. The wink was his nonverbal,  _ it’ll be alright _ . It wasn’t the first time he’d used it.

Archie walked into the apartment, still angry from the week earlier. His back was to the living room, not noticing Betty’s presence. 

“If she wants to be a bitch about this, than fine. I don’t need her. This is fucking ridiculous. We’re gonna get back together anyway, so I don’t think this whole ordeal is necessary.” He stood with his hands on his hips.

“What makes you so sure of that?” Jughead asked making quick eye contact with Betty before returning back to the conversation at hand.

“ _ Who else would want her? _ ” Jughead’s jaw dropped. “I can’t believe you’re actually going to stay here instead of coming to California with me. There’s still time to change your mind.”

Jughead lead Archie into the kitchen, twitching his head to the side to give Betty a chance to go into her room before Archie said anything more to upset her.

“Why would I leave? Things are good here.” Archie snorted. When Jughead heard the click of Betty’s door closing, he let loose. “What the actual fuck is your problem?” His tone had done a complete one eighty.

“Do you hear yourself?  _ Who else would want her? _ Anyone with half a brain would want her! She’s incredible!” Jughead stopped to catch his breath. 

“She’s not that great, remember, I dated her for two years. It’s not like  _ actually  _ know her, you’ve only known her, what a few months if you really stop to think about it.”

“What’s her favorite color?”

“Pink.”

“Wrong. Navy blue. What’s her sister’s name?”

“Grace.” Archie’s face looked smug as he gave the answers to Jughead’s seemingly random questions.

“Not even close. Where does she work?”

“The library?” That one he wasn’t so sure of.

“Wrong. What’s she studying in school?”

“Uh. Some kind of writing or something.”

“Partial credit. What’s her dream, what does she want to do when she graduates?” Jughead echoed Betty’s question to Archie.

Archie shrugged his shoulders. Jughead knew Archie should know the answers to these questions. If he did, Archie definitely should. He was well passed aggravated by this point of the conversation. 

“These are questions you should be able to answer, pal.” He shot at him. “I have learned more about her over the course of the last year than you will  _ ever  _ know about her. You wouldn’t be so lucky to know what I know. Is it that she’s smarter than you? Is that the problem? Or is that she has dropped nearly everything for you over the last two years so  _ you’d  _ be happy. I don’t think you actually ever loved her, to be honest. I think you thought this whole relationship was easy, something you didn’t think you’d have to work at. Am I getting warmer?”

“What the fuck, Jughead?”

“You know what, I do not need to defend myself to you. Neither does she. She made her choice, and I can’t say that I’m sorry about it. I think the best thing to ever come out of  _ our _ friendship,” he said motioning between himself and Archie, “was meeting her.” He pointed to her bedroom. 

“She is the most brilliant, compassionate, beautiful person I’ve ever met. So thanks a million for that. But honestly, she’s right. She doesn’t need you, and frankly I don’t think I do, either. Not if this is who you’ve become.” 

Jughead flexed his fingers in and out of fists resisting the urge to punch his former best friend in the face, or anywhere else, really. 

“If you think so highly of her, have her. I don’t care. Just know I ruined her for anyone else.”

“Why do I highly doubt that?” His smirk was smug, challenging Archie’s masculinity. He knew it would get under his skin. His fragile male ego could never take a blow like that.

Archie opened his mouth to speak. “I think you should go,” Jughead said before he could, shoving the box into his arms. “Don’t come back. And don’t for one second think that you can run off to California and come back and she’ll be waiting for you. I promise you that will not happen. She deserves better than you.”  _ She deserves the world. _

Betty sat on her bed, listening to the entire interaction. Jughead was right, the walls were thin. She may as well have been sitting on the kitchen floor. Tears were streaming down her face when Jughead knocked at her bedroom door. He turned the knob, slowly opening the door, and Betty made no attempt to bush her tears away.

“He left. I don’t think he’ll be bothering you again.” He stood awkwardly in the doorway watching her as she fidgeted on her bed. She flopped back and turned to her side. “I’m sure you heard what he said. I’ll leave you alone.”

“Jug?” He hummed in response. She lifted her arms and grabbed for him, like a child looking for her bottle.

He was hesitant at first. It wasn’t the first time he’d laid with her. It wasn’t the first time he had comforted her, but it felt different this time. He hoped she hadn’t heard everything he’d said about her, he wasn’t ready for her to know. He didn’t want to ruin the good things that were sure to come from their ever blossoming friendship.

He laid beside her, not sure exactly what she wanted from him in that moment. She scooted herself closer to him and pressed her back to his chest. That was the moment he needed. He wrapped his arms around her torso and held her tight. Her tears were gone shortly after he joined her in bed, but he didn’t have the heart to move. Truth be told, he was comfortable, she fit so well against him that he didn’t want to let her go.

She wasn’t sure how long they laid together in her bed, but after what seemed to be hours she finally spoke.

“You’re right. These walls are really thin.” Her voice was quiet, like she was telling a secret no one else was supposed to hear, like it was spoken to the universe instead of to him. “You didn’t have to stick up for me, you know.”

“Yes, I did. I couldn’t let him say what he did. You, of all people, don’t deserve that. I already told you. Besides, it was all things he needed to hear anyway. He’s going to realize sooner or later that he made the biggest mistake of his life hurting you.”

Betty shifted slowly in his arms to face him, their foreheads barely touching. He brushed a rogue hair behind her ear. When she smiled, his heart nearly burst. He was the one to put that smile there, after a week of tears, a week of heartache, a week of insecurity.  _ He _ was the one to make her smile, not Archie Andrews. 

“Did I do the right thing?”

“First you have to tell me something. Then, I’ll give you an honest answer.” She nodded. “How much of that did you hear?”

“Everything.”

“That he said or I said?”

“Everything,” she exhales slowly through her nose. “Did I do the right thing?”

“God, yes. You know better than I do how he treated you, how inconsiderate he was of anything concerning you. I needed to see for myself. That’s why I asked those questions. He should have easily known the answers to all of them.”

“You said an honest answer. I feel like there’s more.” She was right.

“The other reasons are purely selfish. If you heard everything you know what I think of you. I’m not going to apologize for that. No other woman could hold a candle to you.” He attempted a shrug, but it didn’t work too well in his favor while laying down. 

“Why would you apologize?”

“Because you broke up with him a week ago. I’m not the guy who swoops in when someone is vulnerable. Hell, I’m not even the guy who swoops at all.”

Jughead laid with her the rest of the night, never actually returning to his own bed. He didn’t want to, but more importantly, he didn’t think  _ she  _ wanted him to. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So some things have happened, amiright?..... but we are half way through! Do I still have you guys onboard?! Feedback is the lifeblood. Let me know what you're feeling.


	4. Graduation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The feedback on this has been so overwhelming. I appreciate you all for reading and reviewing. 
> 
> As always, thank you to my dearest Peyton for being a beta goddess.

Before she knew it, the semester was wrapped up and she’d have to, once again, make the trek back to Riverdale for Christmas with Alice Cooper.

Betty was in the kitchen cooking dinner for herself and Jughead when she realized something.

“Are you going to Archie’s for Christmas?”

“I don’t think that’s really the best idea this year. I was probably just going to stay here. Maybe have my dad come out while you’re gone, if that’s okay.”

“Or. Hear me out, your dad comes for Christmas while I’m still here. I don’t think I can handle another mother-daughter Christmas, Jug.”

“You wanna stay home with me for Christmas?” He wiggled his eyebrows.

_Stay home with me_ , not _stay here_ , stay _home with me_.

After he confessed his feelings for her nearly two months previous, he had been more openly flirtatious, constant physical contact, sideways glances across the room. Betty knew she’d been harboring feelings for him since well before she’d broken up with Archie. She’d known it when they met, she’d known it when he soothed her from her nightmares, she’d known it when he moved in. She wasn’t being shy about her feelings, per se, but she wasn’t flaunting them either.

She didn’t want to rush into anything, didn’t want him to be the rebound, he was too important to be designated as a backup. She was finding it increasingly more difficult to resist him. He walked around the house shirtless most of the time now, sometimes only in his boxers and bedhead. She was trying to hold out, she needed to know she was in a good place before she even thought about pursuing him.

“Yeah, I wanna stay home with you for Christmas,” she echoed his words and it was not lost on him.

His eyes shined with more hope than they had in the previous weeks. He knew Betty reciprocated his feeling, she didn’t have to say it, he just knew. Jughead took out his phone to see if his dad would be able to come out to New York for Christmas.

“Dad’s all set to come. You’re sure this is what you wanna do?”

“Let’s see,” she said holding her palms out in front of her as if she were about to weigh something. “Go back to my mother’s, where it will be the two of us for God knows how long, with her criticizing every single thing I do. Or stay here with my handsome roommate and his dad?” She moved her hands alternating up and down. “There’s no contest, Juggie.”

She turned around, headed to her bedroom, dinner long forgotten, when she realized exactly what she had said. She had said out loud that he was handsome, that was new. _Juggie_. Where had that come from, she’d never once said it before, why all of a sudden now?

“So you _are_ going to your mom’s for Christmas?” he called after her, sarcasm dripping off of every word.

If looks could kill.

She closed the door behind her softly and slid her back down until she was seated on the floor. It was now or never to confront her feelings. Now seemed as good a time as any. What was she so afraid of? He already knew the worst parts of her, had seen her during a panic attack, seen her in every possible emotion there was. He hadn’t left her side through any of it. What had she done to deserve him?

When she entered the living room, Jughead wasn’t there. She looked around the apartment slowly, eventually finding him in the kitchen.

“There you are. I didn’t know when you’d come back out, so I figured I’d finish dinner.” He looked over his shoulder to find Betty leaning against the doorframe, smiling. “You alright over there?”

“I think I need to tell you something.” The smile never left her lips.

Jughead quirked his eyebrow up, intrigued. “Oh?” He lowered the heat of the burner on the stove and walked toward her, still standing in the doorway. She nodded slowly, biting her lip nervously.

They plopped themselves on the couch, facing each other. Jughead’s eyes traveled her body up and down. She was losing her nerve with his heated gaze on her. They both knew what was coming, but he was going to make her say it.

She crawled into his lap and tucked her head under his chin. This way, he couldn’t look at her.

“You said I was handsome.” She could hear the smirk in voice. He was enjoying the slow torture. She nodded.

“You’re gonna make me say it, aren’t you?” She felt the rumble of his laugh against her body. She exhaled slowly, stalling. In a flash of bravery, she moved, now straddling his thighs and grabbed his face.

“I think I’ve done a pretty good job of not just jumping into this.” she began, “I need you to know that this isn’t about getting over Archie. I’ve been over him, probably before we even broke up. That relationship was dead in the water. But you need to know that you aren’t some kind of rebound, you’re too important to me for that.” She scanned his face, trying to read his eyes, his expression. It was stoic for a moment before a smile broad across his lips.

“I know I’m not. If you want this, like _really_ , truly want this, say the word. My cards have been on the table for months now. I’ve just been waiting for you to show your hand.” Jughead’s hand slipped from her leg up the expanse of her back and latched to the back of her neck. His thumb grazed over her jawline in soft circles.

Betty could feel her heart hammering in her chest. She was finally going to give in and do what her heart had been telling her to do. She couldn’t remember the last time she was this nervous. He ran the point of his nose across hers, their faces the closest they’d ever been.

“Jug?” Her voice almost inaudible, breathy as it fanned across his face. He hummed. “Can you kiss me already?”

With that their lips joined together for the first time. It was soft, delicate, almost innocent. In a word-- _perfect_.

Jughead pulled his lips from her smiling. “You’re sure about this?”

“I don’t think I’ve been more sure about anything in my life.” Their lips joined together again, this time not nearly as delicate. There was heat behind it, the kind of heat Betty had never experienced before. She hated to compare Jughead to Archie, but as her only recent frame of reference, she knew she made the right choice.

As it turned out, taking that step forward with Jughead didn’t change their lives too dramatically. Their routine was still the same, but instead of class, Betty spent her days at the garage. Jughead kept his routine of late night writing and sleeping in until she got home from work. Stolen kisses making dinner, unabashed cuddling on the couch watching movies, late night discussions of more than how school and work was. They fell into it easily, but they were still taking things on the slower side as a precaution. They hadn’t shared a bed since they’d taken the step into more than friends and roommate, but they knew that would come in time.

\--

Jughead’s dad was due to arrive a few days before Christmas. Betty had already broken the news to Alice that she would not be coming home. This was not for a lack of screaming and frustration on either Cooper’s part. Betty’s shouts of _I just can’t, mother_ to compliment Alice’s sobs of _you’re all I have left._ It had been one of their worst fights in a long time, but she made it through stronger than she had in the past.

Betty was busying herself cleaning the house for the third time in two days when Jughead’s arms slipped around her waist, his lips planted on her shoulder.

“I think the house is clean,” he whispered into her shoulder. Betty knew that, but cleaning had been one of her go to activities to dispel nervous energy. Jughead knew this, too. “Why are you nervous?”

“Your dad will be here tomorrow.”

“Okay? Babe, it’s just my dad. There’s nothing to be nervous about. He’s a pretty simple kind of guy. You were fine when you met Fred.”

“First, he’s not _just_ your dad. Second, I was petrified to meet Mr. Andrews. But, this is worse. He’s coming here, which means that everything needs to be perfect.” She was talking faster than he’d ever heard, her words nearly jumbling together.

Jughead spun her around to face him, his hands firmly on her shoulder.

“Hey. No. It’s just my dad. You’ve done more than enough prep for the likes of him. I think, maybe, your letting your mother into your head again. We’ve talked about this.”

Betty knew he was right. The voice of Alice Cooper insisting on perfection would forever be present, lurking in the dark corners of her mind, waiting to exploit any opportunity it could.

“Also,” she started, her gaze fell to the floor, nervous still. “We didn’t really think about sleeping arrangements. I don’t want your dad to sleep on the couch.”

“So, I will. No big deal. You worry too much.” He pulled her into a hug and dropped a kiss to the top of her head.

“I don’t want you to sleep on the couch, either.” Her voice was muffled by having her face in his chest. Jughead smirked as he pulled back from their hug. He stood with his hands on his hips.

“Are you trying to get me into your bed, Miss Cooper?”

Betty glared at him and shook her head, the smile he’d put on her face always present, this time accompanied by a deeper shade of pink tinting her cheeks at his insinuation.  

“Are we going to ignore the fact that you just called me babe?” She was desperately trying to change the subject.

“Is that not okay?” Jughead was stricken with panic, it had slipped out. He knew they’d never actually defined the relationship, but he didn’t think they had to.

“Just, different.” She smiled still, the blush still on her cheeks. Her hands traveled up his chest and latched onto his lapels “And when you introduce me to your dad? How would that go?”

He knew she was phishing for it, this was her way of finding out what their relationship the last few weeks had meant to him. He was inching closer to her, reaching for her waist. She pressed her chest to his and looked up, fluttering her lashes.

“Hmm. Maybe something like--this is Betty, the girl I’ve been living with since I ran away from Ohio. Or it could be, this is the Betty the wonderful soul who took pity on a post-grad weirdo--”

“Be serious, Jug.”

“I’d probably introduce you as my girlfriend, that is, if that’s alright with you. If you’ll have me,” his voice was soft next to her ear, he could feel her shutter as his warm breath grazed her skin.

She pulled him tighter and pressed her ear to his heart, listening to the steady rhythm. After a few beats, she leaned back and looked into his eyes.

“I mean, I guess that would be okay,” she chirped with a wink. Her sass shocked Jughead, but it only made his feelings for her stronger than they may have been moments before.

\--

Jughead’s father arrived the next day in the early afternoon. Betty had been awake since seven stress baking in preparation for his arrival. Jughead would never complain about there being extra baked goods in the house, he never did. The smell of cinnamon and sugar filled the house by the time Jughead left his room and shuffled into the kitchen.

“I’d rather you bake than clean when you’re nervous. It’s a win-win for both of us,” he muttered reaching for the coffee in her outstretched hands. He leaned in and kissed her cheek in appreciation.

Before Jughead could finish his second cup of coffee, there was a knock at the door. Jughead scrambled to the door while Betty stayed in the kitchen putting her freshly baked good onto plates and into containers for storage. She took a deep breath, trying to steady the anxiety of meeting her boyfriend’s father. _Boyfriend._

She heard laughter from the living room. She stood against the doorway of the kitchen watching as Jughead and his father hugged and Jughead took his bags to his room. On his way back, he grabbed Betty’s hand and dragged her into the living room with him.

Betty looked at the man across from her. He could see where Jughead got his devilish good looks from, dark hair, bright eyes, stubble on his chin, even though he probably shaved that morning. She smiled her brightest Cooper smile when she was introduced to him.

“Betty, this is my dad, FP. Dad, this is Betty,” he looked down at her and winked, “my girlfriend.”

“It’s wonderful to meet you, Mr. Jones,” she extended a hand to shake his. FP looked down at her hand and raised his eyebrow. He pulled her in for an unexpected hug. She couldn’t help the small giggle that ripped from her throat.

“You, too, Betty. Wait. Girlfriend?” FP looked over to Jughead, who simply shrugged. “The same Betty you mentioned like two years ago, The one you wouldn’t shut up about?”

“That is enough of that, Dad. Seriously, you can stop talking at any time. Really, it’d be fine.” A blush creeped up Jughead’s cheeks into the tops of his ears.

“So, that’s a yes. But I thought she--”

“Not for a while, Mr. Jones. This is better, anyhow.” Her voice was soft, full of adoration. Betty turned her head and looked at Jughead, eyes shining bright, the way they usually did when she looked at him in their innocent moments.

They’d spent much of the afternoon talking about nothing in particular when Betty got a phone call from work. Her boss needed her to come in, one of the mechanic didn’t show up for their shift and they were backing up quickly.

“I’m really sorry, I have to go to work. Carlos no showed.” Betty ran into her bedroom and changed into her usual work clothes: denim overalls cuffed at the ankle, pink converse sneakers streaked with oil, and a light purple shirt. She was making her way into the living room, still tying her hair into a knot on the top of her head. FP gave her a curious look when she proceeded to run around gathering her things.

“Betty, what is it that you do?”

“I’m a mechanic.” She chirped over her shoulder. “I’ll be back as soon as I can, I’m so sorry, Mr. Jones. I’ll make it up to you guys, I swear!” She leaned down and kissed Jughead on the cheek. She didn’t want to make a spectacle in front of his father.

“Be careful. See you soon,” he winked at her.

Betty returned nearly six hours later, hair a mess and exhausted. With Carlos not showing up for his shift, the garage got backed up and with winter in full swing and travel season upon them, there was a lot of work that needed to be done.

To her surprise the Jones men were not in the living room where she left them. Jughead was in the kitchen and FP was nowhere to be seen. She hung her jacket on its hook and proceeded to the kitchen sink to scrub her hands free of the oil and grease left behind from her long day’s work.

“Where’s your dad?”

“I told him to go relax while I made dinner. I figured since you got called in, you wouldn’t want to cook when you got back.” He turned his head and waited for Betty to finish washing her hands before he leaned over to her for a kiss.

“Well, that’s very thoughtful of you. Making anything good?”

\--

Christmas in her own home was a wonderful change of pace for Betty. There was no argument about the Christmas cookies being perfect, no confrontation over what time dinner would be served, the table didn’t have to be set just so. It was just her, her boyfriend, and his father. They made idol chit chat over dinner, Betty still reserved after meeting FP for the first time.

The greatest perk of Christmas thus far, had easily been sharing her bed with Jughead. While it technically hadn’t been the first time, it was different. It wasn’t purely out of concern. It was because they _wanted_ to. They’d fall asleep with her tucked into his side, his fingers stroking lightly through her blonde tresses, her arm slung around his waist drawing idol circles onto his skin. The hushed late night conversations, the sleepy morning hours when his voice was still thick with sleep when she’d wake up earlier than him. It was the piece missing from their relationship, the piece that she longed for while she was still with Archie--being somewhere that she just seemed to fit.

After FP left a few days after Christmas, without even talking about it, Jughead started slowly moving into her bedroom. It started with a book on his side of the bed, then his laptop set up at the desk. Slowly but surely, the move from roommates to significant other was completed.

In the blink of an eye, Betty’s final semester of college had begun. She had taken a few courses during summer and winter sessions to speed the process along, but she never thought the end would come.

Betty was leaving for work on a Thursday morning two months into the semester. Jughead was in the kitchen finishing his breakfast when she leaned over to steal a piece of his toast and gave him a kiss on the cheek before she left.

“Have a good day at work, babe. Remember we have that dinner with the magazine at the Hotel tonight.”

“Right! I’ll make sure to be home on time. I’ll be back in a few hours. Don’t get into too much trouble while I’m gone.” She called out on her way to the front door.

“Go, get out of here before you’re late,” Jughead laughed.

“I’m going, I’m going.” She said with one foot out the door.

“Be careful. I love you,” It came rolling off of his tongue before he had a chance to think. His eyes grew wide and his heart hammered in his chest. It was true, there was no doubt in his mind about it, but that wasn’t exactly how he wanted to tell her. He had it planned in his head, it was supposed to happen later that night while they were at the hotel, just the two of them. Not like a throw away statement you’d say to a relative to pacify them when leaving dinner early. He cursed himself under his breath.

Betty froze in her place, hand still on the doorknob and one foot hovering over the porch step. She swallowed thickly, her eyes welling with tears almost immediately.

Jughead slowly pushed back from the kitchen table, his hands ringing in front of him. He approached Betty hesitantly. It wasn’t that he didn’t mean it. Of course he did. He’d never meant anything more in his life, but this certainly wasn’t how he wanted to tell her for the first time. He didn’t know if she was ready for that. He didn’t know how emotionally scarred Archie had left her, if she was able to trust that he did actually love her.

“What did you say?” Her voice was a watery whisper, still facing in front of her, away from Jughead.

“I said. Be careful. I love you.” His voice didn’t waiver, but it was soft, like it usually was when it was just the two of them.

“You love me?” Tears spilled over her cheeks as she turned around slowly, bracing against the door.

“Of course I love you.” He could see the flicker of panic in her eyes at his confession and he found himself quickly back-pedalling. “You don’t have to say it back, I get if you’re not ready,” he promised sincerely.   
  
Her throat was dry, like she’d been stuck in the desert without water for months. She attempted to swallow the lump in her throat, her mind racing with every possible outcome to this situation.

“I have to go,” she breathed. “I’m going to be late...”

She walked out of the apartment without another look backward. She got to her car and drove off immediately, not taking the time to set music or even check the clock as she normally did. In the silence, she let herself think.

It wasn’t that she didn’t love him, she was certain she did, but it felt different. She was certain she loved Archie, as well, but that turned into a bigger mess than she anticipated.

Everything with Jughead was different. She never expect to fall in love so quickly after leaving Archie, but maybe it was because she had fallen out of love with him before their relationship crashed and burned. Her only example of love was her parents, and that was strained at best.  

That’s when the realization hit her.

She had left him standing in their living room without a response. She was mad at herself, she was _afraid_. Not of Jughead, he’d always been perfectly tender with her, but of herself, and letting herself feel something so deeply after her failed relationship.

She made it to work and tried to throw herself into it like she always had to distract herself from her growing anxiety. After two hours, and the fourth time she’d dropped a wrench on her own foot, her boss called her into the office.

“Cooper, you seem off today. Everything okay?” Her boss asked. His voice was gruff, but the sincerity was there, she knew it.

“Yeah, everything is fine. Just a little distracted, I guess.” She said.

“Go home. I called Carlos, he’s coming in to take over your shift. I can’t have you working with heavy machinery if your hands are shaking like that,” he pointed to her hands, which she hadn’t notice had been trembling. That would explain why she couldn’t hold onto her tools all morning. “It’s a liability, you understand. Nothing personal. Wash up, get out of here. I’ll see you Monday.” There was no arguing with the finality in his voice.

Betty scrubbed her hands a little harder than she normally would, grabbed her jacket and bag and headed home. She drove slowly, opting for the scenic route, anything to avoid the possible relationship ending implosion she was facing when she walked through the door.

When she couldn’t stall anymore, Betty pulled into her driveway and slowly made her way to the front door. She opened it as quietly as possible, trying to slip back in undetected. The door was barely open when she heard Jughead’s voice dripping with a mix of emotions she’d never heard before.

“Of course I meant it, Dad! I’m not going to take it back.”

She could only hear one side of the conversation, but she was sure FP was saying something in attempts to calm him down.

“What am I supposed to do? Everything is just so different with her.”

So he felt it, too.

“I am head over heels for her and I’m not going to apologize for it. I don’t think I’ve ever been more sure of anything, of anyone. She’s it, Dad. There will never be anyone else for me but her.”

On that note, she closed the door. She’d heard enough. Jughead turned around quickly.

“I gotta go,” he didn’t wait for a response before he hung up the phone and tossed it to the side.

“Babe, what’re you doing home? I thought you didn’t get out for another--” he checked his watch, “--four hours.” His face was colored with confusion and a slight blush. He didn’t know how much of his conversation with his father she had heard.

“Mr. Mendoza sent me home early because I was a liability.” She mocked. “I dropped a wrench on my foot four times.”

Jughead didn’t speak, he let her continue. He was afraid of what would come out of his mouth. She had a grease smudge under her eye covering the freckles that he had come to memorize over the course of two years. There was a small smirk playing on his lips as she continued to recount what her boss had told her before getting sent home.

“I was distracted,” she finally said. Her voice was nervous, small even. She was finally letting herself feel the wonders of his love, she’d known it was there, even if she didn’t _know_.

His eyebrows lifted, waiting for her to finish her thought, waiting for what could make or break him.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about what you said, Jug, I replayed it in my head probably a thousand times. But even more than that, I couldn’t stop thinking about what I _didn’t_ say.”

“What didn’t you say?” His voice matched hers, thick with apprehension. He didn’t know if he really wanted the answer, not if it was going to tear his heart from his chest and trample it to dust.

She walked to him slowly, her hands taking his and gripping them tight. She wanted to ensure he wouldn’t disappear, that he wouldn’t run like she had.

“I shouldn’t have just left, I’m sorry. There are just so many things that went through my head when you said it. Maybe he did ruin me for anyone else, he made me believe that he loved me, but in reality, I really don’t think that he did.”

She was rambling, words leaving her mouth before she had the chance to think about them--pure unbridled nerves. Her stomach was churning, butterflies flapping away, trying to escape in anyway they could. Her heart raced in her chest, she feared it would break through her sternum and into his hands.

But really, her heart was already in his hands, and she knew he wasn’t going to let anything bad happened to it. It hit her like a ton of bricks, all at once, every emotion she’d been running from.

“Sweetheart, what didn’t you say?” He prompted again, breaking her from her inane rambling. His nerves were firing all on cylinders. He was aware of every movement he made, every breath he took, he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing straight up in anticipation of what she was going to say next.

“I love you, Juggie.” She whispered, cupping his face, their eyes connected, the final piece of their souls sewn together.

\--

The rest of the semester continued with Betty and Jughead in a love filled bubble. They’d been together five months at this point. Things were going better than they’d ever expected. Betty was set to graduate with honors in a few weeks, there was nothing that could stop them.

Jughead had published more stories as of late, earning himself a coveted full time position as a remote staff writer for _The New Yorker_ , after months of waiting to hear back after his Skype interview. Betty had been attempting to write a book and worked more and more hours at the garage.

Graduation came and went, Jughead there in the stands to support her every step of the way, as he had been since day one, like she knew he always would be. His words of encouragement and love got her through even the worst days. She was thankful for him in more ways than he’d ever understand.

The day before Betty’s birthday she hit a wall. With the freedom of being done with school, she worked more than full time at the garage, picking up the extra slack being left behind by her never present boss. She had just gotten home from twelve hours in the garage when her phone rang.

Jughead was sitting in the living room, putting the finishing touches on his article when he heard it chime.

“Babe, can you get that? I’m almost done in here!” She called from the bathroom.

“Betty Cooper’s phone.”

An automated voice came through the line. “Global Tel-Link. We have a free call from Hal Cooper, an inmate at Auburn Correctional Facility. Would you like to accept this call?”

Jughead hung up the phone in a panic. Hal Cooper. The Black Hood. He knew more about this man than anyone had the right to.

“Betty. You need to get out here.” His voice was slightly panicked calling for his girlfriend.

“Who was it, Jug?” Just then, her phone rang again. It wasn’t a number she recognized. She looked at Jughead curiously, taking the phone from his hand and sliding the answer bar.

“Don’t--”

“Hello?”

“Global Tel-Link. We have a free call from Hal Cooper, an inmate at Auburn Correctional Facility. Would you like to accept this call?”

Betty’s eyes widened. It had been years since she’d talked to her father. The last time was the night he tried to kill her mother.

She hung up the phone hastily, throwing it like a grenade ready to explode. Jughead was holding her in second, seeing her inevitable breakdown coming a mile away. They sat down and she promptly curled into his lap. His hands made their way to her hair and down her back as he whispered words of love into her ear. He wouldn’t let her spiral, not if he could help it.

It wasn’t as bad as either of them anticipated. Jughead’s knee jerk reaction was more cautionary than necessary, but Betty was glad he was there, glad he knew exactly what she needed. He always did.

\--

In late July, one evening before Betty left work, her boss called her into the office.

“Miss Cooper, a word?”

“Mr. Mendoza, what can I do for you?” She was drying her hands on a shop towel on her way out the door.

“You’ve done a wonderful job in my absence. We have a larger customer base, our costs are down, morale has been boosted tenfold, and there is an actual sense of organization in here.”

“Thank you, sir. I’m sorry if I overstepped.”

“Not at all. I’m glad you stepped in. Do you know why I’ve been gone for so long?”

“No, sir. I’m afraid not.” Betty looked at the older man sitting in front of her. It had been a while since she’d seen him, but he didn’t look well. He was paler than usual, his cheeks and eyes more sunken than she’d ever seen. Now that he had brought it up, she feared for what his answer would be.

“I was being treated at Roswell Park Hospital in Buffalo. Pancreatic cancer, stage three. It’s aggressive, and they said I’m not going to make it out of this year.”

Betty covered her mouth with her hands. Mr. Mendoza had been a wonderful boss to her, a wonderful friend, even. Hearing of his illness nearly broke her heart.

“I’m sorry, sir. Is there anything I can do?”

Mr. Mendoza sat for a minute in silence, watching as Betty fidgeted nervously with the dish towel still in her hands.

“Actually,” he started, “there is. I was wondering if you’d want this ol’ place. It’s been in my family for decades. I have no one to leave it to. I wouldn’t trust a stranger to take over. You know how we do things here. People like you, respect you, which is hard in this industry.”

“Sir, I couldn’t--”

“Consider it my dying wish, Betty. Would you deny a man his dying wish?” He laughed, breaking the tension better could cut with a steak knife.

“No, sir. I guess I couldn’t do that.”

They sat for another few hours talking logistics of how everything would work. What he wanted for the business, how everything would be switched to her name. She had always wanted to run her own shop, this afforded her that chance. She had saved her money from working at the shop over the years anything that didn’t go to the household was stashed away in a savings account for safe keeping.

On her twenty-first birthday, her Blossom inheritance was accessible. It was more money than she’d ever know what to do with, especially since Mr. Mendoza was practically gifting her the business, only charging her what his father paid nearly fifty years ago. He wanted it in safe hands, in Betty’s hands. He trusted her with his family business, she was going to do her best to not disappoint him.

As she walked to her car, she checked her phone for the first time in hours.

**Jughead: You’ve been gone all day. Come back home.**

**Jughead: Okay, I’m being dramatic, I just miss you.**

**Jughead: I thought you only worked until 6:00 tonight.**

**Jughead: Babe?**

**Jughead: It’s nearly 8:00, where are you? I’m starting to get worried.**

**Jughead: Don’t make me send a search party. You know I will.** **  
** **Jughead: Just call me when you can. I love you.**

**Jughead: Please?**

Betty was so wrapped up in her conversation with Mr. Mendoza that she hadn’t thought to tell Jughead she would be home late. She didn’t think she’d be there that late, not by any means. She called him immediately.

“Juggie, I’m so sorry. I got held up at work. I have some news for you when I get home, I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.” She was talking quickly through her excitement.

“Okay, we’ll talk when you get home. I was just worried about you. Normally I hear from you. Sorry for freaking out. I’ll see you when you get here. I love you.”

“Love you.” She hung up the phone and started her short journey home.

Jughead was sitting on the couch, computer in his lap as always when she nearly tackled him from the front door. He barely had enough time to move his laptop before it was replaced by his blonde beauty.

“Good day at work today?” He laughed against her chest. He brought her face to his for a proper hello. Their kiss turned heated quickly, leaving them nearly breathless when they pulled apart. “As much as I love this,” he gestured to her still in his lap, “care to explain what’s going on? You said you had news.”

“I have the _best_ news!”

Betty detailed everything she’d spoken about with Mr. Mendoza in the last few hours. After every detail she could recount, Jughead was left stunned.

“So, the garage is going to be yours?”

“I mean, I have some logistics to work out, but yeah. The garage is going to be mine.” Betty had finally come down from the adrenaline rush that was her evening at around ten o’clock. Everything was coming together in her life so beautifully.

She’d graduated college. She started her series of short stories that she was hoping to publish. She was about to be the proud owner of her own mechanic garage. She was going to utilize her degrees right out of college. Most importantly, she had it all with the man she fell hopelessly in love with at her side. She could not think of anything better to happen in her life.

She sat and thought about how lucky she was in that moment. Everything she’d wanted, her dreams coming to fruition at the ripe age of twenty-one. She still had so much life ahead of her, so much to achieve and look forward to.

She knew she didn’t have to work if she didn’t want to, not with her Blossom inheritance earning interest by the second in her savings account, but Betty was the kind of person who needed to keep busy. Once she got everything settled and running smoothly with the garage, she took some time for herself.

She knew she hadn’t been home as often as she used to be with Jughead. She felt guilty about it. It had taken a few months to flesh everything out, but by mid-September, the dust was settling and she’d be able to establish a routine that worked around both of their schedules.

Betty and Jughead were on their way back from a daytrip to Syracuse when they heard something interesting on the radio.

_Our next song is a brand new single from up and comer Archie Andrews. If you like what you hear, let us know on our social media @kpx915. Here’s his debut song: So Soon_

Betty and Jughead look at each other. Betty pulled the car over as the quick piano intro played through the speakers.They didn’t speak, only listened to the familiar voice now playing on the stereo.

_You say, sometimes, it's like I hardly know you_   
_And maybe there's somethings I never showed you_   
_Sometimes you're certain, but just can't get it working at all_   
  
_You say to yourself somebody better_   
_Will understand you more than I ever_   
_I'll shake his hand, and smile, and say I understand, while I do_   
_That don't mean I don't think about you_   
  
_I know we_   
_Said it's just as well that I won't keep, keep you for myself_   
_But, I don't want to see you happier with somebody else_   
  
_Oh, why can't you just be lo-lo, lo lo-lo, lo lonely?_   
_I know you need someone too_ _  
_ This just feels so soon

Betty’s eyes were wide, listening intently to the song. Jughead grabbed her hand and soothed his thumb over her knuckles. The song finished playing, both of their expressions unreadable, neither knew what to make of it.

It sounded oddly familiar, words and phrases echoed from the year prior from both Betty and Jughead sung so beautifully for the world to hear. Betty had replayed the night she broke up with Archie time and time again, she’d never forget the words she’d spoken to him. The words she overheard Jughead saying a week later when he came to get his stuff. Maybe they were mistaken, maybe it wasn’t about Betty. It was too coincidental not to be.

It wasn’t that they hadn’t heard from Archie in the last year, they had. He would call every few weeks to see how things were, how Betty was. He would never say it, but he missed New York, he missed her. They were still all friends on social media, he must have seen them together there, or maybe it was their parents who kept him in the loop. FP would have told Fred, who more than likely let it slip to Archie.

“What?” Betty breathed, more to herself than to Jughead. “You heard that too, right? Did any of that sounds familiar to you?”

“A little too familiar.” Jughead pulled his cell phone out and scrolled through until he found Archie’s number. It had been a while since they’d spoken over the phone. As the phone rang, he placed it on speaker for Betty to hear, as well.

“Hey! Jug, my man! How’s it going?” Archie answered chipper as anything.

“It’s going. Say, Archie? Something strange just happened. Wanna hear about it?” Jughead prompted making Betty laugh under her breath.

“Yeah, sure.” He had no idea what was coming.

“So, I’m in the car with Betty, driving home from Syracuse. You remember my girlfriend, Betty, don’t you?” He could almost hear Archie rolling his eyes as he scoffed. “And funny enough, we hear this song on the radio. Can you guess which one that might be? It’s by this new up and comer, now what did they say his name was again?”

“It’s on the radio out there, too! That’s awesome! I didn’t think it’d get that far.”

“You’re missing my point, Andrews! Who gave you the right to use your break up with Betty in a song like that? You probably didn’t even think about it. You took parts of the conversations we had verbedem. Did any part of you think you should ask if she was okay with this?”

“No, not really. I didn’t think I needed permission to write my feelings, Jughead. Besides, you’re the one who stole _my_ girl.”

“Woah, woah, woah! Let me stop you right there!” Betty chimed in. “Nobody stole your girl. I’m not your girl. I haven’t been for over a year. I stopped being your girl well before I had the guts to actually leave you. Now this. This is what I hear on the radio? You think me moving on is too soon. You thought I’d reconsider and get back together with you? I don’t know if you’re drinking sunblock or whatever weird things happen in California, but you are seriously delusional if that is what you thought would come of this.” Betty inhales deeply, having said most of that in one breath itself.

Jughead looked at her with wonder in his eyes. He loved her so deeply. He was proud of how strong she was. She knew that her relationship with Archie had changed her, he saw it. But he was doing everything in how power to reverse what he could, to teach her how to be properly loved.

“You can’t be serious! You’re actually happy with him?!”

“The happiest I’ve been in my life. So, thanks for introducing us, but we need to get back on the road if we want to get home at a decent time,” she lied. The drive was only another forty minutes down the highway.

Archie hung up the phone before Jughead could speak again.

“What an _idiot_!” Betty nearly screamed before pulling back onto the roadway.

They made it a few miles down the road before Jughead spoke.

“Happiest in your life, huh?” He had a smug grin on his face. He knew she was living her dream, as difficult as it was sometimes.

“I meant what I said. Everything that’s happened after leaving him has been life changing in the best way. I love my job, I have time to write again, and I have you. What more could I possibly need?” She glanced over at him before returning her eyes to the road. They drove the rest of the way home with the radio playing quietly in the background, hand in hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So things have happened and are moving along quite nicely, yes? How do we feel about it? I wanna know! There's still a lot more to come with only two chapters left! 
> 
> lyrics from the end of the chapter are _So Soon by Marianas Trench_


	5. Sweetwater Monster

Weeks later, Jughead was sitting at home working on a new installment for  _ The New Yorker _ when his phone rang. He spent a good hour on the phone, mostly with his jaw nearly to the floor. As soon as he hung up, he called Betty.   


“C’mon, babe. Pick up the phone.” He mumbled as he waited for her to answer her phone. She finally did on the fourth ring.

“Hi, sweetheart. What’s up?”

“I need you to come home. Don’t worry, everything is fine, but I have to tell you something, and I don’t think it can wait.” His words were rushed, but his tone was a mix of terror and excitement.

Betty wasn’t sure what to make of it, so she arranged for her to be out of the garage for the remainder of the day. When she arrived home, Jughead was sitting at the kitchen table, hunched over his laptop, reading intently what appeared to be an email at first glance. She walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

“I think you should sit down,” Jughead said. She looked at him skeptical, but proceeded to the couch and tucked her feet under her knees.

“Okay, Juggie, what’s going on? Is everything okay with your dad?”

“Yeah, he’s fine. I told you everything is fine.” His words were still a little rushed, so he took a deep breath in an effort to calm himself down. He sat next to Betty and placed a hand on her knee, mostly to comfort himself.

Betty raised an eyebrow for him to keep going. She was now more confused than she had been before she left the garage, which, in truth, she didn’t need to be at all day anyway.

“I got a phone call today. They wanna--” he paused, trying get his thoughts straight before proceeding, “--Do you remember by senior capstone?”

“Sweetwater Monster. How could I possibly forget it?” Betty’s body noticeably stiffened. They hadn’t spoken much about the paper after he submitted it the college.

“Random House wants to publish it.”

“How does Random House even know about it?” She tried to keep her voice even. She was excited for Jughead, she honestly was. But she wasn’t sure she was ready for the world to know the dirty details of her family.

“When I graduated, my capstone professor mentioned something about trying to get it published, how it was excellently written, exceptionally edited,” he added to make her smile, “and how he’d never read anything on the topic before. I didn’t think anything of it at the time. I figured he was just blowing smoke.”

“He wasn’t?”

“Apparently, he’s been working for the last year and a half to get it published. There was a lot of legal legwork they had to get through before Random House would even look at it.”

“Why do I feel like there is a  _ but _ coming along here somewhere.” She was trying her best to be optimistic about the situation. It was Jughead’s dream to be a published author. Not that he wasn’t doing well at  _ The New Yorker,  _ but being the first to write a book on a small town serial killer would definitely help him achieve that.

“But,” he continued, “there are a few things they want me to add, make it more well rounded, I guess. I told them I didn’t know if I could do it, that I needed to talk to you first.”

“Why would you need to talk to me first? Jughead, that paper is your baby. You worked your ass off on it, if they want to publish it, go for it! I’m so proud of you,” She was. At the heart of it, she was proud of him for achieving his dreams just as he was proud of her when hers had come to fruition over the last year. 

“They want me to get crime scene photos.” He took a deep breath, there was more.

“That’s not too hard, I can call Sheriff Keller--”

“They want me to sit down and interview him.” Betty’s face dropped. “That’s why I needed to talk to you about it.”

“They want you to talk to him?” She repeated his words, unable to really comprehend them. Why would the publishers want him to talk to her father? He wasn’t a journalist, no investigative background that she knew about, but she did, her entire family did.

“Is that something that you would be okay with? If you say no, then its no.”

Betty stood up off the couch and started pacing. Her chest was tight, breathing became difficult and she could feel the tears stinging her eyes. Her hands flexed into and out of fists as she tried to think of how to proceed. She couldn’t deny Jughead this. It would be entirely unfair. He had supported her in everything she’s done in the last year--when she graduated, when she took over Mr. Mendoza’s garage, when she started sending query letters to get her short stories published, everything. How could she say no after he’d been there for her unconditionally like no one else had.

“Auburn is only an hour away,” she whispered, still not facing him. “You have to do it.”

“What? No. We need to make this decision together. I know it’s a lot of information all at once, but if even an ounce of you doesn’t want me to do this, I won’t.”

“That’s the thing, Jughead. I’ve avoided him and the whole situation for far too long. I think it’s about time people know just how horrible a person he really is. There is information you can get from him that I don’t know, and that would only make your work better.”

She sat down next to him again. Her hand pressed firmly on his cheek. He leaned into her touch and let out a deep breath he wasn’t aware he was keeping. 

“Okay?” she said, as brushed her thumb along his cheekbone. 

“Okay.” he acquiesced.“But if at any point during this process you want me to stop, just say it. I know this is going to be hard, for you, for both of us. I don’t know if I can sit across from him and not want to hurt him for what he did to you and your family.”

“I can go with you. I don’t think I can face him, not yet, but I can be there.”

“I don’t want to put you through that again--”

“Let me decide what I can handle Jug. she said firmly. 

They continued their conversation of legality and how to obtain anymore information that he needed. With Betty’s help, he could get everything the publishers needed. After his professor had read his paper, he had compiled a list of questions that the publishers wanted answered. There were three pages of questions.

It would take hours to get the information he needed from Hal Cooper. He wasn’t sure he was mentally prepared for the undertaking, but Betty encouraged him throughout the entire process. It took weeks to get permission from the prison for visitation. Apparently, it was harder to visit a murderer in jail than it had been to see his dad in the county lock up. 

It turned out, even if Betty didn’t offer to come with him, she would have needed to. Hal had been assigned to only family visits during his stay at Auburn, at his request, to keep reporters and curious true crime buffs out of his hair.

Random House got the proper legal documentation to access all of the police records, crime scene photos, victim interviews and anything else he could possibly want. They shipped the boxes to their apartment in Ithaca. Jughead would wait until Betty was asleep before going through anything. He didn’t want her to accidentally look over her shoulder to face her past.

He was fully prepared and ready by the beginning of November. 

“Last call. We don’t have to do this.” Jughead whispered to her just before getting out of bed at five thirty in the morning the first day of his visitation. 

Betty turned over to face him, her hand finding the hollow of his collarbone, as it often did early in the morning.

“You’ve worked so hard. We’re not turning back now. Now, let’s get ready. Visitation starts in two hours and it takes an hour to get there. It’s going to be a long day, but I’ll be there the whole time, on the other side of the glass.”

“What did I do to deserve you?”

 

\--

 

They made their way to Auburn Correctional Facility, the boxes of records tucked away in the trunk of the car, just in case. The last email from his professor was imprinted in his mind:  **_Remember to establish a connection with him. He will be more forthcoming with information if you are.._ ** He wasn’t sure how to establish a connection to him, other than with Betty. He knew, logically, that there was nothing Hal Cooper could do to hurt Betty anymore, but there was still a fear lurking in the recesses of his brain that worried he might try.

They checked into the administration desk, locking their belongings away into their assigned locker, though he was allowed to bring the tape recorder it was suggested he bring. He wanted it just in case he missed anything. He wasn’t anticipating it, but stranger things had happened.

“Mr. and Mrs. Jones, please follow me this way,” a corrections officer said.

Jughead looked at Betty, confusion painting his face alongside a mild blush. She grabbed his hand and he leaned into her.

“I had to tell them we were married so they’d let you in. I figured it would be easier, too, not using the Cooper name.” She shrugged. “He’d know I helped, which is fine, but I’m not ready to see him yet. We’ll see how today goes,” she flexed her feet to her toes and placed a chaste kiss to his cheek before they turned down a stark white hallway, leading to the interrogation room within the prison. 

He leaned over to whisper in her ear, “So, you’re gonna take my name?” 

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise, a blush creeping up her cheeks and into her ears. He winked at her and kissed the top of her head. Jughead was always great at dispeling her nervous energy. 

“Are you ready, Mr. Jones?” He nodded his agreement and left through a small door into a room they had just brought Hal Cooper into. He took a deep breath and pulled out the chair in front him. There was a pad of paper and a ballpoint pen waiting for him.

He pulled out his list of questions provided to him by his professor and glanced them over quickly before regarding Hal. 

“Good Morning, Mr. Cooper. I’m Jughead Jones. I assume you know why we’re here today.” Jughead started. His voice was even, not revealing the fact that his entire body was vibrating with anticipation and debilitating fear.

“Please, call me Hal, Mr. Jones.” He was jovial, his voice lighter than he expected it to be. He had heard recordings from his trial and interrogation, but this voice was different than those on the the recordings. 

“Okay, Hal. Before we start, do you have any questions for me?” This was how he was going to connect to Hal Cooper. He’d answer all the questions he had as honestly as possible. 

“Your real name isn’t  _ actually _ Jughead, is it? That’s a pretty horrible name.”

“No. It’s Forsythe Pendleton Jones, the Third.”

“I think I’ll stick with Jughead,” Hal laughed. “Where you from, Jughead?”

“Perrysburg, Ohio. Just outside of Toledo.”

“What brought you to New York?”

“My best--a friend of mine went to college here. I came out to visit a few times. I ended up falling in love with his girlfriend. Once I graduated from Oberlin, I moved in with her when he refused to.” Jughead shrugged like he didn’t just confess to being in love with Betty since they’d met. She had heard it from FP, but not straight from him.

Betty’s eyes widened from the other side of the glass. 

“Ah, love.” Hal seemed to reminisce. “I was in love once, still am. Alice divorced me after the arrest, but I still love her dearly. You try to kill her one time and she files for divorce.” Jughead nodded carefully, unsure of how to react to his sick sense of humor. “What’s your girl like?”

Jughead turned his head toward the two-way. He knew Betty was nodding on the other side of the glass, without needing to see her. He knew he had to give him information, but not too much.

“She’s brilliant, graduated top of her class. She is like nothing else I’ve ever encountered in my life. She’s strong and determined, and considering the life she lead that brought her to me, I’d say she’s extremely well adjusted. It it doesn’t hurt that she’s painstakingly beautiful.”

“What does that mean “extremely well adjusted” Hard life for your princess?” Hal asked curiously.

Betty cringed at the nickname her father had given her when she was just old enough to walk on her own.

“You could say that. Any other questions?” 

Hal shook his head.

“Where would you like to start, Mr. Cooper?”

The first day consisted of a vivid detailing of the crimes he’d committed. That is what he chose to focus on. Details that weren’t in the police records, only things that he would know. He detailed the phone calls he’d have with Betty, near verbatim to what Betty had told him. 

He spoke about the night of the jubilee, how Betty’s speech had reignited the spark the Cooper bloodline long before him had begun. How we wanted to rid Riverdale of its sins and the sinners along with it. Echoing the words  _ we must do better _ . 

He went through the night he shot Betty’s best friend’s father. How he murdered the school janitor in cold blood, left a teenage girl stabbed on display for an entire auditorium of people to see. How he incited riots across the town, leaving an innocent boy shot, but thankfully alive. 

Jughead watched Hal’s face as he detailed everything. It wasn’t that he was stoic, no. That would be expected, but the ever present smirk on his face is what really disturbed him. He could see why Betty was so terrified of him, how even hearing his name could reduce her to tears.

He got to the night it all ended. The night he had his hands around his wife’s throat, trapping the stagnant air in her lungs, the night he planned to kill both his wife and daughter, then himself. But before he could, Betty had acted as quickly as she could, playing off of her mother’s bravery. It saved both of their lives. 

“She’ll turn out to be the same as me. I know it. These traits have been passed down through our bloodline, there’s no way it will escape her.”

Jughead didn’t believe him. Betty Cooper,  _ his _ Betty Cooper, would never hurt a fly.  _ His _ girl who’d apologized for ruining his good news because she got into a fight with her now ex-boyfriend, who pulls over when she sees someone having car trouble on the side of the highway, who has been relentless and unwavering in her kindness and compassion. It seemed Hal Cooper didn’t know his daughter as well as he thought he did.

He let that be the final thought of the first day of questioning. He had gotten most everything he needed, but there was still a little more. He’d review the tapes later, when Betty was asleep, for anything he may have missed. 

The publishing house put them in a hotel near the prison, not without protests of living close enough that they didn’t need it. He was thankful for it, though. The first day was mentally exhausting not only for him, but for Betty. She hadn’t said a word once they’d left the facility. Her mind was still wrapping around everything she’d heard, her mind riddled with questions she wasn’t sure she wanted the answers to. They fell asleep in each others arms, as they did every night, Jughead holding her a little tighter. 

The second day was something else entirely. Hal didn’t want to detail his crimes. He wanted, really, to speak his life, give a verbal memoir of sorts. Some of Jughead’s questions were being answered, unbeknownst to Hal, the pieces he was missing being filled in seamlessly. He went into explicit detail of his childhood, being raised by a mother, who sounded eerily like Alice. 

Hal reminisced about his glory days of high school, about his fairly normal sounding adulthood. He seemed to be well rounded-- got married, had and raised his children, ran a successful business. 

Hal gave detailed accounts of his time with Betty and Polly growing up, how he was, admittedly, closer to Betty when they bonded over restoring vintage cars, how he taught her everything he knew. He listed Betty’s accomplishments from before his arrest. Jughead could hear the pride in his voice as he spoke of his daughter. 

“I know her mother and I were hard on her, but we did it for her. We knew what she’d be able to accomplish. I wonder what she’s doing now. I’m sure she’s running the  _ New York Times _ by now, just like we always wanted her to. She was quite the investigative journalist in high school from what I remember.”

He was digressing and Jughead could see it. He had gotten all of the information he needed from the interview, but there was something pulling at him to stay there. 

“Would you excuse me, Mr. Cooper. I’ll be just a minute,” he said standing from his chair and walking toward the control room door. He knocked twice and waited for the guard to open it for him. He stepped inside looking for Betty. 

She was watching her life unfold from her father’s perspective, things she’d never known about, things she’d always been curious to discover, but never had the courage to ask.

Going to her, he rubbed his hands over her shoulders.  “I think I have everything I need for the interview, but there’s just one thing I think you need to do.”

“Me?” she asked confused. 

“I think it’s time you face him. You’ve spent so long running. He can’t hurt you. Now is your time to finally tell him how you feel about what he did. About what he’s said these last two days.”

“Jug. I can’t” Her hands were shaking as she turned away from him. “I wouldn’t even know where to start. There’s so much,” she was mentally exhausted and he knew it.

He knew he was asking a lot from her. But he also knew that if she didn’t seize the opportunity now, she probably would never have another one to do so.

“I know, baby, but--”

“I need a minute.” She walked out of the room, leaving Jughead behind confusion all over his face. Maybe he shouldn’t have said anything. Maybe he’d pushed her too far. Typical Jughead mistake.

Betty followed the maze of the facility until she reached fresh air. She needed to breath something that wasn’t stale, stagnant air. Air that she didn’t have to share with Hal Cooper. She was overwhelmed by everything she’d heard him say. The look on his face when he recounted murdering those innocent people.

What sickened her the most was the sound of pride in his voice. He was proud of Betty for things she’d achieved what felt like a lifetime before. He had no right to be proud of her anymore. He had no claim to her successes or her failures. He was the gum that had been stuck to the bottom of her shoe for years and she suddenly realized she was finally ready to be rid of it.

She walked back through the prison, a guard escorting her along the way until she reached the interrogation room she’d just left. She snuck back in to see Jughead standing with his back to the door, his hands threaded in his hair at the back of his head and his elbows jut out to either side. The door clicked quietly behind her, just enough for him to turn around.

“I’m sorry for pushing you. I thought that maybe if you--” she grasped his face in her hands, leaned on her tip toes and placed a gentle kiss on his lips.

“You’re right. I think I’m ready. No. I  _ know _ I’m ready to face him. ” Jughead’s jaw nearly dropped.  When she walked out, he was nearly certain she was going to leave him there at the mere suggestion of her speaking to her father. He was not expecting her to acquiesce . He nodded his approval, looking to the guards to see if it was alright. 

“You’re sure?” 

Betty nodded.

“You’ll be there the whole time, right?” He was proud of her. Jughead nodded.

“Follow my lead,” Jughead said, kissing her cheek before he re-entered the room. He sat back down slowly, pulling the chair beside him out slightly. “Can we get you some water, Mr. Cooper. We’ve been at this a while, I’m sure you’re thirsty.”

“That would be lovely. Thank you, Jughead.” He tilted his head to the side, motioning for whoever was behind the door to bring the sealed bottle of water into the room.

Betty took a deep breath before she opened the door. She stood with it open for a moment, letting Jughead’s presence soothe her. He gave her a small nod before she closed her eyes and took one last deep breath. She took one step forward, then another until she was positioned over Jughead’s shoulder. She looked up slowly at her father, heart racing in her chest. She knew she could do this, she was strong enough. She could do anything with Jughead by her side.

Hal hadn’t been paying attention when Betty entered the room. He had expected a guard to bring him a small plastic cup filled with lukewarm water. The water fumbled from her fingers onto the table, a little harder than she intended to. The clang of plastic on metal turned his head sharply in front of him. 

Betty watched his eyes go wide in recognition of her. She would say that she looked the same from the last time she had seen her father, but she knew that wasn’t true. Long gone were her pastel sweaters and prim and proper ponytail. College had given her the opportunity to find herself, new colors entering her wardrobe, her hair down more often than not. 

She had become her own person, not the person her parents had always wanted her to be. But she would never be able to change the flecks of gold in her eyes, the flecks she inherited from the man staring at her, the series of freckles high on her cheekbones from too much time out on Sweetwater River, the slope of her lip that everyone said looked just like her mother’s.

“Princess? Betty, is that you?’

She simply nodded, not ready to speak yet. She sat in the chair next to Jughead and placed her hands neatly in her lap, sitting up pin straight. Being under her father’s eye brought back the years of conditioning she was working her way out of.  _ Don’t speak unless spoken, children are to be seen and not heard. _ There was no doubt in her mind now that he had learned that from his mother during his own traumatizing childhood.

Jughead didn’t look at her, he knew that if he did, he would show his hand sooner than he wanted to. Letting Hal see Betty was a privilege and he knew it. Betty wanting to see him was a surprise he didn’t expect. He was going to be careful, not that he wasn’t being careful before, but now there was an added layer to the conversation. He wanted to see how Hal reacted to Betty’s presence, how it would steer the conversation, it would certainly add to his narrative.

“Mr. Cooper, anything you’d like to know about your daughter? Elizabeth, you do not have to answer his questions if you feel uncomfortable, You may leave at  _ any _ time. You have complete control of this situation.” His words were calculated, stressed; he was letting her know without giving Hal the opportunity to second guess their relationship. For all Hal knew, she was there strictly for the interview process, not as his girlfriend.

“You’ve grown up, so much, Princess. I can’t believe it’s been so long since I’ve seen you. Well, I can believe it, but, wow, just look at you. How’s being a journalist?” He folded his hands, mirroring her posture as best he could still in handcuffs. 

Betty shifted in her seat, still looking into her lap. “I wouldn’t know.” A small smirk played on her lips, growing more confident with each passing second, knowing nothing bad could happen to her with armed officers in the next room.

“Excuse me?” Hal’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“I  _ said _ , I wouldn’t know. Sorry to disappoint,  _ Hal _ , but I’m not a journalist. I was never going to be. I forged my own path, away from you, away from mom.” 

Jughead’s heart was bursting with pride. He knew how strong Betty was. He knew what she was capable of. It was still too soon to show his hand, he couldn’t tell her, not yet.

“I am your father, young lady. You do not get to speak to me that way!” Hal slammed his fists against the metal table, handcuffs clanking, steel on aluminum.

“Oh, no. First of all. I am an adult. Second, you lost all right to speak to  _ me  _ this way when you went on a murderous rampage across town.” Betty’s voice filled the small space, bouncing off the bare walls. She turned slowly to Jughead. “I’m done,” she whispered to him.

She stood up from her chair, not acknowledging her father for another second. She knocked on the door that lead to the control room and slipped in without another word. Jughead watched as she disappeared behind the glass. This was his chance.

“Who does she th--”

“I’m going to stop you there, Mr. Cooper. I think we’re done here.”

“Pardon me, Jughead?”

“I said, I think we’re done here. I have what I need. But now, what I  _ need  _ is to make sure she’s alright, because that’s what you do when you love someone.”

The look on Hal Cooper’s face was nearly priceless. It didn’t take him long to catch on that the girl Jughead had described to him the day before was his own daughter. 

“You? Her?” He scoffed. “You’ll never be good enough for her. You don’t deserve her.” But in reality, what did Hal Cooper know about Jughead Jones?

“That may be true, Mr. Cooper, but I can promise you one thing. I will  _ always _ be there to protect her from men like you.” Jughead’s palms were flush against the table, looking Hal directly in his eyes, devoid of all real emotion. “Enjoy the rest of your stay here, Mr. Cooper. It’s a shame you won’t make the wedding.” He winked at Hal before walking away and knocking on the door to leave the room.

As soon as Jughead was behind the door, Betty was in his arms, pressed close to his chest.

“I’m so sorry,” Jughead whispered into her hair. He ran his hands down her back. To his surprise, she wasn’t crying. He was nearly certain she would be. 

“Don’t be. I’m okay.  _ Really _ .” She pushed off his chest slightly, but he wouldn’t let her go. Maybe their closeness was more for him than it was for her in that moment. He gave her his usual  _ you better not be lying to me _ face. He looked into her eyes to see that she wasn’t. There was no hesitation, no fear, no tears.

“Why’d you say that, about the wedding? Did we get engaged and I missed it?” Betty chuckled to herself.

“If you can lie to the administration office and say we’re married, I’m allowed to say we’re engaged to piss off your father.” He laughed with her momentarily. “I don’t think I made a very good first impression on him.” He shrugged, making her laugh almost hysterically.

The Corrections officers lead them back to the administration desk to gather their belongings and sign the appropriate paperwork to leave. They made small talk, not wanting to speak of anything particularly heavy after the two days they’d had listening to a serial killer rehash his crimes.

They were  nearly back at the hotel when Betty turned in her seat to face Jughead. His eyes were trained on the road, arm outstretched lazily over the steering wheel. She drank him in, the setting sun lighting his face in new ways. In that moment Betty decided she wanted to see him in any light, every light for as long as he’d have her.

“Why are you staring?” He glanced at her quickly before returning his eyes to the road. 

“I’m not allowed to just look at you?”

“You usually only do it when you have something to say, but you’re stalling. You’re connecting the dots of my freckles again, aren’t you?”

“Maybe.” She sighed.  He could always read her so well. Before she could speak again, her thought heavy on her mind, they pulled into the parking lot of the hotel. 

They got out slowly, stretching before gathering their jackets and heading to their room. Jughead had plopped himself on the bed with a sigh with Betty following right after.

She curled into his side as his arm encompassed her pulling her closer to him.

“Why did you agree with him? When he said you weren’t good enough for me. That you didn’t deserve me.”

“No matter who I was, he was going to say that. You’re his daughter, he’s never going to think anyone is good enough. That’s what dads do.” 

“It’s not true though. You’re more than good enough. It’s  _ me _ that doesn’t deserve  _ you. _ ” Jughead raised his eyebrow curiously at her, not taking his eyes from the ceiling.  He turned his head and kissed her forehead. He was about to argue with her but she spoke again before he had the chance.

“It’s just,” she sat up, pulling him up with her so they were sitting cross legged across from each other, “since that day I walked into Archie’s room and found you instead, you have brought out a part of me I didn’t know I still had. The part I thought I lost when all of the madness started. You gave that back to me and I don’t think I deserve that level of kindness from anyone. Not after what he did.”

Jughead leaned forward and kissed his way from her forehead to her lips. He wasn’t entirely sure how to respond, but he knew nothing he ever said would make her realize that she deserved the world and he would do damn near anything to give it to her.

Jughead decided it best not to argue. He’d let her have this one, for now.

He worked tirelessly for months to perfect the additions to his book. On Betty’s insistence, she edited his new pieces with the same enthusiasm she always did. He knew he would have to send it to the editor for Random House, but he wanted her involved in anyway she’d allow it. He may have written it, but it wouldn’t be what it was without her insights. 

By February, each new piece was integrated into his paper. The editors had read and reread everything countless times, reorganized and reformatted more times that he could count. He could nearly recite it. He was tired of looking at it. When he thought about writing a book, he never thought it would be this difficult.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only one more chapter to go guys! Thank you for your support and comments throughout this fic, guys! It is greatly appreciated, more than I can express.


	6. Welcome to the Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go. The last chapter. The response to this has been overwhelming and I appreciate all of the feedback I've received on this. Love you all. 
> 
> As always, special thanks to my sweet darling, Peyton for being an absolute treasure and dealing with my neediness and doubt.

At the end of March, Betty had decided to take some time from the garage to decompress and focus on herself. She’d been working in tandem with Jughead to ensure his book was ready for publishing, on top of maintaining her business and working on her own writing endeavors. She could feel the burnout coming.

She had needed to hire a new mechanic, Carlos finally having left, deciding to leave the area to be closer to his children. It had difficult to find good help, but she was determined to make it work the best she could until she found a suitable replacement. Luckily, it only took a few weeks to find someone who was capable of the work that needed to be done.

Once Martie was trained to her liking, Betty took some time for herself to stay home. It wasn’t that her relationship with Jughead was suffering because of their combined work schedules, but she felt as though they needed time to spend together, not worrying about deadline or clients or meetings or repairs. Simply just time to enjoy each other.

She woke up before Jughead, as she usually did, and set herself on course for the day. She tried to simply sit and watch television, but her fingers itched to do something productive. She didn’t want to write, that would be working and her mission was to not work for at least one of the few days she’d taken off to relax.

Her mind went to the only place it did when she needed to be productive, but procrastinate at the same time. She pulled herself off of the couch and padded into the kitchen, trying to make as little noise as possible. She pulled out her well loved cookbook, which if she was being honest, she didn’t even need to look at, and the essentials, before she started baking.

One batch of chocolate chip cookies turned into three, six muffins turned into eighteen. She was keeping herself busy and she knew Jughead wouldn’t mind having the baked goods around the house. Before she knew it, her countertop was covered in cookies, muffins, and anything she she had the ingredients for. She set the coffee pot to percolate as she cleaned up the kitchen after herself.

The bedroom door clicked open as Jughead came walking into the kitchen, the back of his hands rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“Why do I feel like it’s too early to be awake?” Jughead asked, his voice thick with sleep.

“Because it is. It’s only 9:30.  Did I wake you up?”

“The smell of coffee woke me up. It usually does.” His eyes were still half closed, not fully focused on anything but the smell of coffee and the sound of Betty’s voice.

“Why am I awake at 9:30. Wait,” he paused, his eyes shooting open and brow furrowing down. “Why are you _home_ at 9:30 on a Wednesday?” He looked around the kitchen to see the various baked goods littered across the counter. His mind began to race, the only time she ever really baked was for holidays and when she was anxious. His face morphed from confusion to concern.

“I’m fine. I was just bored. Calm down,” she said before he could even voice his thoughts. Jughead’s body visibly relaxed. “I tried to be lazy, but I just couldn’t do it. I was waiting for you to wake up and I needed something to do.” She shrugged.

“Betty Cooper: Master Procrastibaker,” he chuckled making his way toward her with outstretched arms. “But, seriously, why are you home on a Wednesday?”

“I told you I hired the new mechanic and once she was trained I’d be taking some time. Well, that time starts now.” She kissed him on the cheek then continued to put the rest of the baked goods into containers.

Jughead settled on the couch with his coffee and a stolen muffin and sighed. He threw his head back against the couch after swallowing a particularly large bite of muffin and smiled to himself.

“Hey! Guess what?” Jughead called into the kitchen.

“What’s that, babe?” She asked turning the kitchen faucet off and making her way into the living room, her own coffee in hand.

“I love you,” Jughead smile beamed brightly across the shadow of the living room, directly into Betty’s heart. She placed her coffee cup on the table, took Jughead’s and did the same. He cocked his head to the side and looked at her through half closed eyes.

Betty sat in his lap, bracing her legs around his thighs. She wrapped her hands around his neck and stroked his cheeks, her eyes peering directly into his. Her shorts had slid up her thighs, hair a disaster, streaks of flour on her cheeks.

“Say it again,” Betty whispered, not blinking, barely breathing.

“I love you,” his voice matched hers, quiet. A moment for just the two of them.

In that moment, Betty’s heart nearly burst. How was she lucky enough to have this man in her life. This man who has been her friend, her confidant, her partner in everything. In that moment, hearing he loved her, out of the blue, without being prompted, for no reason at all, while she was disheveled mess of a person, gave her answers to things she didn’t even know she’d been asking.

“Marry me.” It wasn’t a question.

“What?” Jughead was confused again, his voice still quiet, but his eyes were shining brighter than Betty had ever seen.

“Marry me?” This time it was a question. Had she said the wrong thing? Would he not want to, why would he? “Nevermind, it was stupid, I don’t know what I’m saying--”

“Yes.”

“Just forget I said anything---wait, yes?”

“Yes.”

“You’re not mad?”

“Sweetheart, why would I be mad?”

Betty ducked her head, not that she was embarrassed that she’d asked, but how overwhelmed with emotion she was. She had never felt love like this in her life, not from her parents, friends, certainly not Archie. They’d only been together just over a year, but she knew he was it.

“I promise, I’m not mad.” His hands were planted firmly on her hips, with a light squeeze, he continued. “Hey. Look at me.” He drew her face back up to his, eyes connected. He could see the blush on her cheeks, the worry in her eyes that she’d done something wrong.

In his eyes was everything she needed--hope, desire, promise, love. She knew she hadn’t made a mistake in asking, even if it was completely out of left field. She kissed him then, so delicately, that if he didn’t know any better, he’d think it was a dream. They stayed there, kissing languidly for what felt like hours, but in reality was only minutes. Content in their happiness, they smiled against each others lips.

“So, you’re really going to take my last name?” Jughead chuckled, remember his teasing tone the last time he said those words in the annals of a prison. This time, he couldn’t be more serious.

\--

Late Winter made its way to early Spring. Everything was going well for Betty and Jughead. They were happily engaged, even if their families didn’t know yet -- they were keeping it for themselves for now, Betty’s shop was doing better than she’d ever hoped, and Jughead’s work had been printed in magazines all over the country, waiting for his book to be published.

Jughead was making his way into the house when he nearly tripped over a box on their front steps. He looked at it carefully, inspecting the shipping label to figure out where it came from. His eyes went wide when he saw it was from Random House.

He nearly ran the rest of the way into the house to find Betty. She was laying down in their bedroom, still only wrapped in a towel from her shower. He dropped his bag in the corner of the room and flopped himself on the bed beside her.

She sat up and slipped off the bed to change into her pajamas for the night. She rejoined Jughead on the bed when she noticed his smile was wide. “What’s in your hand?”

“I found this on the front steps. They must have delivered it while you were in the shower. It’s from the publishing house.” Betty clasped her hands together in excitement. “I’m nervous.”

Betty put a reassuring hand on his cheek, how she always did. “Whatever it is, it’s going to be okay.” He nodded and ripped open the package.

A package contained a notecard and a paper wrapped rectangle, which they could only assume was the first copy of Jughead’s book. He slowly unwrapped the book while Betty read the card aloud.

“Congratulations, Mr. Jones. Enclosed is the first ever copy of your book. It will officially hit stores in May. Welcome to the Random House family, officially. Sincerely, Judith.” She read. “How lovely.”

Jughead was holding the book in his hands so carefully like it would crumble in his hands. He grazed his fingertips over the raised lettering of the front cover.

“Sweetwater Monster: The Chronicles of the Black Hood and the Small Town He Destroyed. By Forsythe P. Jones, III. Foreword by Elizabeth Cooper.” He was reading the front cover, nearly on autopilot when it hit him. “Wait. Foreword by Elizabeth Cooper?”

Betty was chuckling to herself. She hadn’t told Jughead about the addition the book. Judith, his contact at Random House had reached out to her to see if she’d be willing to write it. She was especially interested in having her do it because of her connection to not only Jughead, but to Hal Cooper himself. She had agreed near immediately, but asked Judith not to tell Jughead, as it would be her surprise for him.

“Yep. I hope that’s okay. Judith asked me to do it. I told her not to tell you.”

“You are incredible. I really don’t deserve you.”

“I still stand by that it’s me who doesn’t deserve you, but you can have it this time,” Betty winked at him, seeing the tears well in his eyes. It had become a back and forth, who didn’t deserve who. They never fought each other on it, but they each knew they were the two luckiest people on the planet to have one another.

He wasn’t one to get overly emotional, but he couldn’t help it. Things in his life were going far better than he’d ever hoped. He had gotten out of Ohio, found success in his dreams, had a wonderful woman by his side who not only loved him, but wanted to marry him. What more could he ever ask for?

\--

Before May, the publishing house had planned a release party for him, despite his massive amounts of protest. They’d have to travel to New York City to rub elbows with people from the publishing house-- other writers in the genre, editors, higher ups on the executive food chain.

“Do I really need to wear a tuxedo to this? I feel like a little kid playing dress up.” Jughead whined sitting on the hotel room bed while Betty got ready in the bathroom.

“Yes. This is _your_ release party, remember? I know you said you didn’t want it, but Judith thinks it’ll be a great opportunity to network with other people in the publishing house.” Betty poked her head out of the bathroom door to see Jughead fidgeting with his cufflinks. “Besides, you invited your dad and I think my mom is even coming. It’s going to be a good night.”

“If you say so.” Jughead mumbled more to himself than to Betty. “So, There’s something I didn’t tell you. Well, a couple things.”

“Oh?” She called out still applying her makeup at the bathroom sink.

“Well, one thing you need to be out here for, so it can wait. The other one you might get mad at me for.” Jughead was rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

“Jughead, what did you do?” Her voice wasn’t angry. They both knew she couldn’t actually ever be mad at him, despite her best efforts. She’d tried, it hadn’t worked.

“When Judith asked me for my list of people I wanted to invite. I may have put Archie on it. I doubt he’ll come but I just wanted to prepare you for that possibility.” He was speaking quickly in a hushed tone, as if the words were going to sear his tongue.

Betty walked out of the bathroom. Her blonde hair curled slightly cascading down her back and across her shoulders. Her deep purple, knee length dress with a slit up the side was clinging beautifully to her curves. The plunge of her neckline was classy, sexy even, but stopped before it was bordering on inappropriate. Her makeup was done darker than usual to compliment the dress, but it was still very much her, emphasizing her natural beauty.

Jughead stood across from her, hands now in his pockets, speechless. His mouth was dry. He attempted to swallow the lump in this throat once, twice, and on the third attempt finally was able to speak.

“Wow.” That was the only response he could muster. They had been together a year and a half but never had a reason to dress up so elegantly. They already lived together, when they went out, it wasn’t anything fancy. They lived a modest, comfortable life, despite their successes as individuals and as a unit.

“Wow, yourself.” Betty said approaching him. Her hands found his shoulders and leaned in to kiss his cheek. “Now, what did you say, I couldn’t really hear you through the bathroom door.”

Jughead was mildly relieved that she hadn’t heard him through the door. He knew what he needed to do first and foremost, before bring up their ginger past. He sat her down on the edge of the bed and rummaged through his suitcase.

She looked at him with curious eyes, brighter than he’d ever seen. It must have been the purple of her dress that made them shine so brightly. Or maybe it was love.

“First,’ he said sitting next to her, their knees touching. He was nervous, but in reality he had no reason to be. “How about we make this thing official?” He pulled out the small black box he had taken from his suitcase.

“Juggie?” Her eyes were already filling with tears and she was thanking God for whoever created waterproof makeup.

“I know you already asked and this isn’t meant to trump that, but Betty Cooper, being engaged to you these last few months has been amazing, but I want to show the world, scream it from the rooftops. So now, it’s my turn to ask.”

He pulled the small delicate silver and diamond band from the box and held it in front of her hand. “Are we ready to show the world how unstoppable we are?”

“You’re sure?” It wasn’t that they were keeping their engagement as secret by any means. They were prolonging the questions from their parents, from their friends. The skepticism of their peers that says, _‘but it’s so soon’_. It wasn’t. They had been friends first and foremost, falling in love was never something either had expected, but were so grateful that it did.

“I don’t think I’ve been more sure of anything.” He echoed her words from the night they relationship ventured into the unknown. He kissed her forehead as he slipped the white gold over her left ring finger. A perfect fit, as he knew it would be, just as they were.

They revelled in their happiness before he broke them out of it with his second piece of news. “So, now that you’re stuck with me, ready for my second piece of news?” He asked a slight chuckle on his breath.

“Why do I feel like this is a trap?”

“No trap. Well, maybe. You tell me.” He took a deep breath. He knew she wouldn’t particularly like what was about to come out of his mouth next, but she needed to know. “When Judith asked us for the list of people we wanted invited to this thing, I may have added another name to that list before I sent it.” His face winced, bracing for her reaction.

“You invited Archie?”

“I doubt he’ll come, but it felt like the right thing to do. I know we aren’t on great terms with him.”

“I didn’t think we were on _any_ terms with him.” She stated plainly.

“Right. But,” he started, pressing his lips to hers quickly. “Without him, I wouldn’t have you, and without you, we couldn’t have built this.”

“I guess that makes sense. He’s probably too busy with his head in his ass in LA to even notice.” Betty laughed at herself.

She didn’t _want_ to hate Archie, but he didn’t make it easy. She knew that long before they were Archie and Betty or Betty and Jughead, it was Archie and Jughead. To her, that friendship far outweighed her past relationship. She could put aside their differences for the day.

The party was to celebrate Jughead, his achievements and hard work. This was his baby. She knew that. He knew that. Archie, however did not. If he did show up to the event, she was sure he’d attempt to make it about him, he usually did.

A short while later, they made their way into the ballroom of the hotel already half filled with people they didn’t know. FP and Alice were waiting at the bar patiently, unbeknownst to one another that they were waiting for the same people.

As they approached the bar, Jughead walking toward his father and Betty toward her mother. Betty hugged FP and introduced him to her mother.

“It’s great to see you again, Mr. Jones. This is my mother, Alice. Mom, this is Jughead’s dad, FP.” She smiled brightly at both parents as they shook hands.

“Hell of a kid you got here, Alice.” FP said, beaming with pride that his son was dating her.

“Thank you.” Alice said, her face stoic, as it always was.

Jughead grabbed Betty’s hand and led her away from their parents, letting them talk amongst themselves until they were ready to join the party. He led her into the main ballroom, his hand on the small of her back. They were approached by Judith and a man he didn’t recognize. He was sure that was going to happen a lot during the course of the night.

Judith leaned in and hugged Betty, then Jughead while complimenting their appearance.

“Jughead, Betty, this is my boss, Cory Fitzpatrick. Cory, this is Forsythe P. Jones, III and his girlfriend, Betty Cooper.”

“Fiance,” he corrected. “And please, call me Jughead.” He shook hands with the man.

Cory went on to compliment Jughead on his achievements, going as far as to say he’d read some of his pieces in _The New Yorker._ Betty watched with pride as Cory escorted Jughead over to the bar to buy him a drink. She remained in her spot watching him speak so animatedly about the work he loved. Her fingers spun the newly placed ring on her finger and the smile on her face could not be contained.

Jughead was making his way back to Betty, two drink in his hand when he stopped and his eyes widened. Betty walked to meet him where he stopped, confused by what was happening.

“Juggie, you okay?” Betty asked, taking the drink she presumed was hers in her hand. She turned around to face the same direction as Jughead when she saw it. The familiar flash of red hair she hadn’t seen in nearly two years.

Betty had thought about what it would be like the next time she saw Archie, how it would make her feel. Surprisingly, she didn’t feel anything-- not good, not bad, just nothing. He looked the same, save for being slightly tanner now, a byproduct of living in California, she assumed. The same smile played on his lips now as it did then, but instead of the flutter in her stomach and love in her eyes she used to have, she stood there now hand in hand with Jughead, smiling to herself.

It didn’t take long for him to spot them across the room. As Archie approached, Betty grasped Jughead’s hand a little tighter in anticipation of Archie’s anger at seeing them together for the first time in person.

Archie stood in front of Jughead, hands at his side, playing with the cuff of his sleeve with his fingertips. His eyes dropped to their hands, joined together so seamlessly. They slowly trailed up Betty’s body until he was staring at her other hand. The hand holding her drink, her ring on display for the world to see. His eyes grew wide, then narrowed as if maybe his eyesight was playing tricks on him. He blinked rapidly to dislodge the image, but it remained.

“I didn’t think you’d make it, Archie,” Jughead said, a slight tone of happiness in his voice.

“I was in New York for a meeting. Things just lined up well, I guess.” He shrugged. “This is great, Jughead.” He said gesturing to the room around him. “I don’t think I’ve seen you in a suit since we were kids.”

“It comes with territory, I suppose,” Jughead retorted keeping his answers light, not wanting any tension to build unnecessarily. This wasn’t a time to get into another argument with him.

Archie’s gaze returned to Betty once again, this time on her face. When their eyes met, there was no anger, no animosity, just pride. Pride to be on Jughead’s arm, pride in the work he’s done, pride in herself for choosing herself over Archie Andrews.

“It’s good to see you, Archie.” Betty said quietly, taking a sip of her whiskey soda.

Archie wasn’t sure what he was expecting to hear from her, but it certainly was not that. He cleared his throat nervously before answering.

“You look good, Betty.” She smiled at the compliment and nodded her thanks, taking note how she didn’t blush how she used to.

“Well, enjoy this,” Jughead said, “we have more people we need to meet with. We’ll catch up with you in a bit.” Before he could answer, they were walking toward Judith with another member of the Random House family.

\--

A few hours into the party, after speeches had been made and toasts given, Betty stepped outside to cool off, leaving Jughead to mingle on his own for a few minutes. She was met with the crisp cool air of late Spring. She rubbed her hands over her arms to fight the chill, but she knew the alternative of the stifling warm ballroom wasn’t better.

She leaned her back on the cold brick and slowly exhaled. It had been a long night of people pleasing and smiles. Her feet hurt as she wasn’t used to wearing anything other than converse, but she’d do it all over again for Jughead. She looked around to see the city street strangely quiet. She soaked in the white noise for a few moments before she was pulled from her serenity by someone clearing their throat.

She turned her head to face the direction of the noise. There before her stood Archie Andrews, hands stuffed into his pockets, feet kicking invisible rocks nervously.

“He proposed to you?” His voice was quiet laced with traces of sadness.

“No.” Betty stated simply.

“But, the ring. I figured--”

“I proposed to him.” Archie’s eyes grew wide at the statement.

“Oh. So then you really love him, huh?”

“Don’t do this is Archie, especially not here. I don’t want to fight with you about this. I have moved on. I think you need to also.” She attempted to keep her voice steady, but she was tired of fighting and defending herself.

“Listen, Jughead is, err, was, my best friend. I know I should be happy for him, for both of you, but--”

“Stop,” Betty put her hands up and shook her head lightly. “You and Jughead have known each other your entire lives, and despite your stupidity, he still loves you because you’re his best friend. Don’t come here to rehash the past, be here for him, be a friend and support him. That is the only way you’re going to make any of this better.” She crossed her arms over her chest, inhaling deeply to remain as calm as possible.

“I know I ruined everything. Trust me, I know.” He placed his hand on her shoulder, and rubbed his thumb in small circles. It was familiar, but awkward, bordering on uncomfortable. His fingers squeezed a little tighter when he felt start to slip away.

Betty jerked her shoulder out from under his hand, taking long strides to get back to the door. Archie grabbed her wrist and spun her around.

“I’m not done talking to you,” he seethed, the hold on her wrist slightly painful.

Betty attempted to get out of his grip, but to no avail.

“Let me go,” she said as calmly as she could.

“I let you go once, I’ll be damned if I do it again.” His eyes were burning with rage as they bore into Betty’s.

“I believe the lady said let her go,” a familiar voice rang from over Betty’s shoulder.

Archie’s grip tightened slightly before throwing her arm out of his reach. Jughead walked up to him with purpose, stopping until their noses nearly touched.

“I think it’s time for you to go, Archibald,” Jughead’s jaw was set tightly, his mouth barely moving as he spoke.

“Not without what’s mine,” he sneered, eyeing Betty, sidestepping Jughead.

Jughead wedged himself between him and his fiance, blocking her from Archie’s reach. He tried to reach for her again, this time, only to be met with a swift punch to the throat.

Archie stumbled back, clutching his throat, trying as he might to breath.

Jughead shook out his hand, he wasn’t one for physical violence, but when it came to protecting who he loves, he’d do anything.

Betty winced as Jughead lunged toward Archie, face still contorted as Jughead made his way to her side.

“What the fuck, Jug?” Archie wheezed.

Jughead grabbed Betty’s hand and walked toward the door, pulling her along with him. When they got to the front door, she turned her around, and touched her wrist delicately.

“Are you okay?” He could see the tears forming behind her eyes, immediately regretting the decision to invite Archie to the event. “This is my fault, I’m sorry.”

“If it didn’t happen now, it would happen at another time. He seemed pretty hellbent.” Her voice was shaky, trying her hardest not to let anymore tears spill because of Archie Andrews. He was single handedly trying to dismantle her relationship. She wasn’t sure how much more of it she could take.

Archie stumbled his way back to the pair, still gripping his throat. He shook his head, looking back and forth between Betty and Jughead before he lurched forward again. Jughead positioned himself in front of her, yet again to block his advances.

“Just leave, Archie. Y’know, I thought that by extending an olive branch it would start to rebuild what we had when we were kids. Clearly, I was wrong. This was a mistake. You need to stay away from us. Go back to your life in California, we’re doing just fine without you in our lives.” Jughead’s calm tone was nearly unsettling. The intensity behind his words, the set of his jaw, how his eyes flickered with danger, it was a side Betty hadn’t seen, but knew she didn’t want to see again.

She clung to his arm to keep him from punching Archie again and pulled him into the front door of the hotel. She whispered to the guard by the door about him, telling him that if he tried to enter the building to call the cops.

Betty went directly to the bar, ordered a drink and drank it quicker than she ever had before. She was livid, who did he think he was to ruin Jughead’s night, to ruin his life? If he really cared about either of them, he’d listen and leave them be.

When they calmed down after whispers of love and apology, they walked back into the ballroom, leaving the ginger thorn in their side behind.

The rest of the party continued without much fanfare. Jughead and Betty bid adu to their parents and Judith, heading back to their hotel room for the night. At this point, they just wanted to be in their pajamas, safe in each others embrace before traveling home the next morning.

They woke early the next morning, lazily got dressed and enjoyed breakfast provided by the hotel before venturing home. They weren’t even an hour out of Manhattan when something on the radio piqued their interest.

_Singer/Songwriter, Archie Andrews was arrested last night outside of a hotel in Upper Manhattan following an alleged case of domestic violence. More details at the top of the hour._

Betty burst into laughter. It finally subsided when the next part of the story broke.

_Outside of a popular Upper Manhattan hotel last night, Archie Andrews, known for his song So Soon, was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor assault, resisting arrest, and harassment. According to the security guard who called the police, he had grabbed a woman, then attempted to attack her fiance before they fled to safety within the hotel. He was released on his own recognizance into the custody of his manager._

Jughead tore his eyes from the road to look at Betty who was still giggling to herself over the news she’d just heard.

“It serves him right,” Jughead said, taking Betty’s hand into his, a comfortable silence blanketing them as they continued their way home.

\--

A few weeks later, the police department had contacted Betty for a statement, which she graciously gave, conveniently leaving out the part where Jughead throat punched him on her behalf. The police indicated that the judge had issued an order of protection against him for both herself and Jughead, she was grateful, although she thought it was a little unnecessary.

That was the last they’d heard from Archie. Fred had reached out to Jughead to apologize on his behalf, but ultimately was not making excuses for him. What he did was inexcusable, he said as much. As much as they appreciated him reaching out, it wasn’t his place to apologize. Archie was an adult and he was responsible for his actions. That is what it boiled down to.

Jughead’s book was officially released later that month and was doing better than they ever expected it to. The first print release had nearly sold out in a week. Who would have thought an essential biography on a serial killer from small town New York would have been so wildly successful.

On a beautiful spring day shortly after the book’s release, Betty and Jughead were walking the Commons, hand in hand, as happy as they thought possible. They walked into the vintage book store, as they always did. Jughead perused the rare first editions to see if there were any he didn’t have yet. Their selection was changing every few weeks, so it never hurt to look.

Betty walked to the new releases with one book in mind. It didn’t matter that they had the first ever printed copy of the book, she wanted to buy one of her own, to contribute. She knew the contents of the book start to finish. She bought the book without Jughead seeing it, he was too lost in a first edition that she couldn’t identify. Betty could watch him for hours. He treated books like they were pure gold, something that she admired about him. He had the same passion for reading and books that she did. Together, their collection was embarrassing, or at least it would be to anyone but them.

She walked up behind him and snaked her arms through his and hugged him. Her fingers played lightly on his stomach, hearing him chuckle under his breath.

“What’d you find?” Betty asked curiously eyeing the warn red volume in his hands. She detached herself from his waist and stood beside him.

He tipped it toward her carefully. She ran her fingers over the cover delicately, dislodging bits of dust as she did.

“Grimm’s fairy tales?”

“I already got my fairy tale, why not have these, too?”

“Y’know the Grimm fairy tales are actually terrifying, right? Not exactly something to read to the kids, at least not until they’re older,” she chuckled under her breath.

“Kids, huh? How about we get married first, then we can talk about kids,” he winked at her, a teasing lilt in his voice.

Betty playfully hit his chest before walking to the front counter and paid for the rare book. They continued to wander around the square agreeing to stop for coffee before they headed home.

“Let’s sit. It’s such a beautiful day, I wanna enjoy it,” Betty said letting the sunshine streak across her, face tilted toward the sky to absorb as much as she could.

Jughead went into the cafe and minutes later returned with their beverages. He handed Betty her white paper cup filled with warm coffee, just as she liked it. She took a sip as he sat next to her on the bench as they watched people walk passed, living their own lives.

Jughead was lost in thought as he people watched. He wondered if they were as happy as he was, he wondered if that was even possible. Sitting on the bench, in the middle of Ithaca Commons, with the love of his life by his side, he didn’t think life could get much better. He felt the pressure of her head on his shoulder.

_Nothing could ever be better than this,_ he thought to himself, a smile emerging on his lips.

There was a time in his life that he thought he was going to be stuck in a cycle of loneliness, a cycle of nothing but pipe dreams and wishful thinking. He never dreamed of falling in love with someone so incredibly perfect for him, or even finding someone to fit that bill. But, as he looked at the woman who had been by his side to fulfill all of his dreams, his beautiful fiance, his _everything_ , he knew it could never be better.

Betty tapping his shoulder brought him back to reality.

“Hey, Juggie? Can you do me a favor?” She asked, still leaning on his shoulder. He hummed in response, goading her to continue. “Sign this for me?”

She handed him the book she’d just purchased at the bookstore. He looked at her, eyebrows furrowed, but eyes shining.

“Why did you buy a copy? We have one at home.”

“I know, but that one is yours. This one is mine, and I want you to sign it,” she explained before kissing his cheek and batting her eyelashes at him.

He sighed as she pulled a pen from her purse and clicked it open. Her smile was wide, like a child full of the excitement of Christmas morning.

He flipped to passed the title page, where he normally signed his books, to the dedication page where there were two inscriptions. Betty hadn’t paid too much mind to the dedication page when she was flipping through the pages when it first arrived before its release. He shielded what he was writing from her. She glared at him, her nose crinkling, as he scribbled away in her book.

He handed it back to her a few minutes later, the page nearly filled with his signature scribble.

Her fingers danced over the page, feeling the indentations of his writing, revelling in his words.

_This is dedicated to two very important people from different parts of my life:_

_My beloved - You have taught me everything worthwhile in my life. None of this would be possible without you. I still do not deserve a woman like you in my life. I love you._

_AA - Thank you for not realizing her worth and pushing her away until she fell into the arms of someone who does._

Written in blue ink across the page:

_Dearest, you will never know what you’ve given me in the last four years. In what started as a friendship has grown and blossomed into the most amazing thing I’ve ever experienced. You have been my biggest cheerleader and influencer throughout that time. For that I can never repay you. But you’ve given me more than just that. You’ve given me hope and helped me fulfill dreams I never thought possible, and for that, I am_ truly _in awe. But more importantly, you’ve shown me more love that I ever dreamed. You are everything and I cannot wait to journey into the rest of the unknown with you._

_I love you._

_Juggie._

 

 

 

\--fin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we have it. The end. Thank you guys for taking this journey with me as we watched these two love birds develop in their friendship and love. Stay tuned for a few new oneshots coming soon. 
> 
> As always your feedback and comments are greatly appreciated. Love you all! <3

**Author's Note:**

> So how do we feel? Don't worry, there are more chapters to come. Let me know how you guys are feeling about this so far! I hope you stick around for this journey with me!
> 
> As always, comments, kudos and all that are greatly appreciated.
> 
> Find me on tumblr, @shrugheadjonesthethird


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